Telling Our Stories: How The GCDD Storytelling Project is Lifting Voices in the Developmental Disability Community

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) Storytelling Project lifts and shares the stories of people with developmental disabilities throughout the state of Georgia. Using several mediums, The GCDD Storytelling project has produced a collection of written and photographed stories,

Holding Hands and Jumping

Columbus, Georgia (Senate District 29) It’s Friday afternoon at Chattahoochee Scuba in Columbus, Georgia. Kaylee and Micah Asante are getting suited up, not for scuba lessons, but rather for swimming instruction and therapy. Kaylee, 10, and Micah, 16, both have

Inclusion is an Act of Good Faith

“Hello, Dalia, how are you today? How do you feel today?” Hannah sings to Dalia. She begins dropping out words from the songs and waits. “I feel happy,” Dalia types out. There’s a certain kind of joy that comes with

Treasure Maps: The Georgia Storytelling Roadshow

Telling Their Own Stories

Treasure Maps showcased the stories of 10 people from across the state with developmental disabilities. The stories are expressions of the storytellers themselves. They chose the stories they wanted to tell, what was most important to them as individuals, as

Model of Hope

“I’m ready to tell my story! Have you seen any of my movies?” This is how Eric Naindouba, a soon-to-be 14-year-old with cerebral palsy greets us as we meet for the first time in a local McDonald’s. Eric is with

The Kidpreneur

It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Georgia. The Christmas tree is up in the Le Denney house, but it’s not yet been decorated. Seven-year-old Kalel, Kal for short, runs from one end of the house to the other, full

The Mayor of Lithonia

When Tira Harper walks into the small, square building that serves as Lithonia’s City Hall, everyone knows who he is. Even before he gets there, when Tira tells his colleagues he’s going, they joke and say, “Tira, you’re the mayor!”

Nanditha posing wearing an orange shirt.

When Hobby Becomes Career

Nandi – short for Nanditha – is finally home. She has lived in a variety of places, some better than others. Nandi gets emotional as she recalls painful experiences from her group home life – in one instance being told

Telling our stories... GCDD. Everyone has a story. Read ours.

Meet the People Behind “6,000 Waiting,” GCDD’s Forthcoming Documentary

After much hard work from the Friends of L’Arche project team, along with film producers, editors and directors, GCDD is excited to soon release its film, “6,000 Waiting.” Seasoned filmmakers Michael McDonald, Lexi Read and Zach Read came together and

Photo of Jack Clark wearing a life jacket on a boat.

Our Happy Place

Once or twice a week in the summer, Jack Clark’s family loads up a couple of bags with ice water, pretzels and watermelon and heads down to the Little River Marine Center to hop on a boat rental and reconnect