Independence by Design

WHO WE ARE

Independence By Design, LLC is a Colorado Program Approved Service Agency providing Home and Community-Based Services to people across the lifespan. We are certified by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and enrolled with Colorado Medicaid, and we completed our initial state survey with zero deficiencies.

WE PRESUME COMPETENCE

Every relationship here begins with one belief.

Presuming competence is not a philosophy about disability. It is a way of seeing people. We do not make assumptions about what someone can do based on age, diagnosis, appearance, communication style, culture, or how much support they use. We begin with curiosity. We listen, we learn, we ask questions, and we build a relationship. Only then do we decide the next steps in designing a program for someone. All services and supports are individually tailored to individual needs and visions of independence.

Presuming competence does not mean expecting everyone to do everything independently, or to need the same things. It means beginning without assumptions — and then designing around the person in front of us instead of the program we already had.

OUR MISSION

To partner with individuals across the lifespan to thoughtfully design person-centered supports that promote and support independence, dignity, self-direction, and meaningful living. We recognize that no single approach fits every person, and we begin with the belief that every individual is capable, valued, and deserving of opportunities to achieve their own goals.

OUR VISION

A world where every person is valued for their unique strengths, where support is built with intention, and where individuals are empowered to live self-directed, meaningful lives. Independence and quality of life look different for every person and evolve throughout life's journey.

HOW WE WORK

Before we talk about services, we want to understand the person. What do you enjoy? What matters to you? What do you hope to accomplish? Which relationships are important to you? What does a good day actually look like? What does the person value? And what does independence look like to them?

Support should never be built around assumptions. Support should be built around people.

We teach and coach wherever we can rather than doing things for people, because increasing independence is the point. And we adjust as life changes, because independence is not a destination someone arrives at once.

WHY WE EXIST

Independence By Design was built out of years of watching people forced into a shape and place that was never made for them. Supports designed around what was available instead of what was needed. Plans written from a diagnosis instead of a conversation. And underneath all of it, the quiet assumption that a person who needs help cannot decide, cannot learn, cannot do.

Independence does not always happen on its own. Sometimes it has to be designed. Thinking outside the box should be the norm, not the exception.

Needing support has never meant can't.

OUR PROMISE

Every interaction with Independence By Design should leave you feeling heard, respected, safe, included, valued, supported, and informed.

If we do not know an answer, we will tell you. If we make a mistake, we will acknowledge it, work to correct it, and learn from it. If your experience does not reflect what we have promised here, we want to hear about it — we cannot improve something we do not know about.

Different Minds. Intentional Lives.

Mellisa Umphenour, CCM
Founder and Administrator

Independence By Design exists because of years spent watching people forced into a shape that was never built for them.

Mellisa has spent more than twenty years in Colorado home and community-based services and twenty-five in the field, across emergency services, developmental disabilities, mental health, and senior care. She is a Board Certified Case Manager and a Certified Nursing Assistant, and she holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Healthcare Management from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Most recent professional accomplishments included holding the position of Director of Operations for a large Colorado home care agency, where she over saw more than two hundred staff, maintained state licensure and Medicaid compliance, and led the agency through Joint Commission accreditation.

She has also worked on the other side of the table. Mellisa served as Chairperson of the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council from 2015 to 2018 and sat on its Legislative and Public Policy Sub-Committee, the Colorado Special Education Advisory Committee, and the Disability Benefits Support Committee. She knows how these systems are written, and she knows where they fail people.

That knowledge is not only professional. Mellisa is the parent of a young adult with significant support needs, and she spent years explaining to systems what her son could do — if. If the support were designed. If someone started with a question instead of a conclusion. If the people charged with supporting her son listened instead of checking a box.

Independence does not always happen on its own. Sometimes it has to be designed. Needing support has never meant can't. Independence By Design grew out of those years, and out of systems built for people, without people. She is grateful to the mentors who helped along the way.

Mellisa is a lifelong Coloradan. Outside of work she is off-roading, paddle boarding, building Lego sets, and talking her family into visiting one more small town.

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