Courtney Vargas grows independent living support for adults with disabilities

Courtney Vargas, founder of Empower Independent Living Services in Santa Rosa, is building person-centered support for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her work blends practical life-skills coaching, community access, and advocacy, with plans to expand the organization and eventually launch a nonprofit.

Why it matters: - Empower Independent Living Services is focused on helping adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities gain practical skills, confidence, and more control over daily life. - The model aims to reduce isolation and improve access to community resources, housing help, and other supports that can shape long-term independence. - Vargas’s lived experience with disability adds credibility to a field where trust, empathy, and consistency matter.

What happened: - Courtney Vargas founded and directs Empower Independent Living Services in Santa Rosa, California. - Vargas built the organization after four years working at a similar service provider that later closed. - After completing a year-long Regional Center vendoring process, Vargas began serving the first client in January of the following year. - The business has since expanded beyond a solo operation, including the hiring of its first employee.

The details: - Empower’s Independent Living Services model centers on hands-on skill building. - Vargas works with clients on cooking, cleaning, meal planning, organizing, and daily routines. - The organization also helps clients navigate Social Security processes, Section 8 housing applications, and local community resources. - The service model includes support intended to reduce isolation and encourage social connection. - Vargas is proficient in American Sign Language. - Her professional background includes education management, administrative support, customer service, clerical operations, and accounting. - Vargas earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Finance from Southern New Hampshire University. - She also holds an Associate of Arts degree in Psychology and Humanities from Santa Rosa Junior College. - Before starting Empower, Vargas worked in bookkeeping and later as a behavioral aide supporting children with autism. - Vargas lives with spinal muscular atrophy type 3, diagnosed in adulthood. - She created a YouTube channel focused on muscle disease and fitness and participated in online support communities during that period. - Vargas is a contributing author to Built With Purpose. - She also sells educational worksheets through her Teachers Pay Teachers store. - Her published materials and advocacy focus on purpose-driven work, independent living, and personal growth. - Her online resources include her Influential Women profile, Empower Independent Living Services, her YouTube channel, and her Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Between the lines: - Vargas’s path reflects a shift from conventional office work to mission-driven direct support. - Her career choices appear shaped by a combination of professional experience and personal disability experience, which may help her connect with clients and families. - The organization’s emphasis on teaching, rather than doing for clients, points to a model built around capacity-building instead of dependence. - The expansion from a single-client start to a growing staff suggests early demand for individualized community-based support.

What's next: - Vargas plans to expand Empower Independent Living Services over the next three to five years. - She also wants to broaden team capacity and serve more clients. - Her longer-term goal is to build a nonprofit to address gaps in community-based disability support. - Future growth is expected to center on more individualized support and wider access to services.

The bottom line: - Courtney Vargas is building a disability support business around dignity, choice, and practical independence, with ambitions to scale that model beyond a single organization.