The Whole Person
The Whole Person (TWP) is a private, nonresidential, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization providing independent living services in the Greater Kansas City region. For 43 years, TWP has offered community-based, consumer-driven programming for people with all types of developmental/cognitive, mental health, and physical disabilities, all aimed at promoting, supporting and empowering independent living choices and preventing institutionalization. TWP leads by example: More than half of board and staff members have a significant disability.
As a Center for Independent Living, TWP’s five core service areas are 1) Independent Living Skills Training; 2) Peer Support and Mentoring; 3) Advocacy; 4) Transition Services; and 5) Information and Referral Services. Programs in each core service area complement others to provide seamless ways to address the array of needs and goals of each “whole person” they serve.
Each program and service is responsive to the needs of TWP’s target population: Kansas City residents of Jackson, Clay, Cass or Platte Counties in Missouri, or Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas, who live with one or more disabilities. Nearly all of their programs and services are provided for more than 2,000 clients annually. TWP’s guiding principle reflects the independent living philosophy that took root across the country in the mid-1960s, that the freedom to make choices and the ability to live independently in the community is a basic civil right that should be extended to all people regardless of disability.
