For many people, disability services are defined by the support they provide.
Jeff Newman thinks they should also be defined by something else: contribution.
"When people think about disability, they often think about what people need," Newman said. "What they don't always see is everything people have to offer."
Newman is the executive director of Our Own Lives, a Cortez-based nonprofit that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Southwest Colorado. He is also autistic himself, giving him both professional and personal insight into how disability is often viewed.
When the organization separated from Community Connections and became its own nonprofit in July 2024, Newman said leaders didn't begin by drafting a mission statement. Instead, they asked the people receiving services what they wanted the organization to become.
"The first big piece of feedback was, 'Stop talking about the organization like it's you,'" Newman recalled. "'We are the organization.'"
The second message was equally clear.
"We are always viewed as the people in need of help," he said. "We are never viewed as the helpers."
That philosophy now guides everything from hiring to service delivery.
Rural challenges require local solutions
Like many organizations serving rural Colorado, Our Own Lives operates in a region where choices can be limited.
Someone living along the Front Range who isn't satisfied with one provider may be able to switch to another. In Montezuma County, that often isn't an option.
"If you're getting services in Denver, you can vote with your feet," Newman said. "People out here don't."
The distances themselves also create challenges.
People may travel hours for specialists, surgeries or evaluations, particularly those living in communities such as Dove Creek. Transportation, coordinating caregivers and maintaining connections with family members can become part of everyday life.
Those realities, Newman said, make it even more important for services to adapt to the individual instead of expecting the individual to adapt to the system.
Looking beyond the staffing shortage
Disability service providers across Colorado frequently cite workforce shortages as one of their biggest challenges.
Newman believes one solution has been overlooked.
"The solution to that staffing crisis is the disabled workforce," he said, arguing that people with lived experience bring understanding that cannot be taught in a training manual.
The organization has adopted a universal accommodations policy for employees, allowing workers to request reasonable accommodations without navigating the traditional documentation process. Newman says creating an affirming workplace has helped recruit and retain employees who are passionate about the work.
Building jobs around people's strengths
Employment is another area where Newman believes expectations often fall short.
Rather than fitting people into existing positions, Our Own Lives works with local employers to identify jobs that match an individual's interests and strengths.
One employee helps children discover new toys while working at a toy store, becoming what Newman calls the store's "toy sommelier." Others have found roles assembling recreational vehicles or filling specialized positions designed around the work they do best.
For Newman, those stories challenge long-held assumptions about disability.
"What are you passionate about?" he asks people entering the employment program. "What is the perfect working environment for you?"
A community question
Newman acknowledges that disability services face an uncertain financial future as state and federal funding pressures continue, but he says the conversation is ultimately about more than budgets.
Disability, he notes, is the one minority group that anyone can join at any point in life.
"The services we're building today are the same ones any one of us could someday rely on," he said.
For him, the goal extends beyond providing support.
It's about building communities where people with disabilities are recognized not only for the assistance they receive, but for the ways they enrich the places they call home.
"We can model building inclusive communities that work for everybody," Newman said.
