The lights here are bright. The floorboards are grooved. And special chairs are at the ready to assist people down the stairways, should the elevators ever go out. But more is at work here to assist people with disabilities than meets the eye. Here at The Independence Center exists an ambitious and fast-growing nonprofit - one that has vastly increased its work in recent years helping people with disabilities live more independent lives. In a nod to that growth, the State Department recently arranged for a delegation from Japan to visit the nonprofit's growing campus in downtown Colorado Springs as part of a wide-ranging trip to the United States.