2021 Legislative Session

The EAGLE Academy is a two-year program within Georgia Southern University that provides individuals with intellectual disabilities a chance to gain independence, skills, knowledge and confidence alongside students who do not have intellectual disabilities. The program currently focuses on years three and four of the college experience, meaning the students have either attended other post-secondary programs for one to two years, worked previously, or have been out of high school for a couple of years. 

“CHOICE is college, period. We are college, we do college, they do college. And so that's what CHOICE is. It's more than a program. It's college. That's the way I say it,” says Theresa Davis, confidently, about the inclusive post-secondary education (IPSE) opportunity at East Georgia State College.

Thomas Harkins finds his academic pursuits keep him very busy. “My first class is at 12 o'clock all the way until 12:50. Then my last class is at 2:00 all the way until 2:50. And then after that, I have my tutoring session. So, I usually get home at around five, maybe six o'clock in the evening,” Harkins explains.

Self-advocates across Georgia work and contribute to their communities as individual citizens and as members of the growing self-advocacy network, Uniting for Change. When we focus on how everyone has something to contribute, we find ways for people to find and share their gifts and talents.

Hello Advocates! My name is Charlie Miller and I am the Legislative Advocacy Director here at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). Session is finally out, and your state senators and house representatives are back in their communities. We have just finished celebrating two major holidays, Juneteenth and the Fourth of July. Both celebrate independence in different ways, but our community has another great Independence Day coming up – the day the federal legislature passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This critical piece of legislation is one of the foundational pieces of the disability rights movement and helped pave the way for people with disabilities to advocate for their rights to be in the community.

Hi, I am Marian Jackson and I am from Fitzgerald, GA. I am a state advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and have been for over 20 years. I am also a mother of an adult child with disabilities. I, along with five People First members and others from a small group, advocated for public transportation. We successfully got transportation for not just the disability community but for all people in Fitzgerald.

As we round out the end of the fiscal year, action in the nation’s capital is both frenetic and action-packed. Congress is super-focused on passing a historic multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation bill that includes major investments in COVID recovery, infrastructure development, and

Federal Disability Policy Updates If 2020 felt like a long crawl across the Sahara Desert, 2021 feels a lot more like being in a race at the Indy 500 here in Washington! Check out the whirlwind of activity occurring both

It’s been a busy 2021 so far, which has brought some important wins for the disability community. Below we provide a few key updates and what we expect to see in the coming months. COVID-19 Response American Rescue Plan Act:

Fall is in the air, the leaves are changing, holidays are right around the corner and my favorite time of the year is almost here. That's right, the legislative session! From the second week of January to mid-March or later in the spring, Georgia State legislators come together at the state capitol, or what we like to call “the Gold Dome,” to work on the state budget for the upcoming year, and pass laws that affect Georgians like you and me. 

As some of you may already know, the recently passed Georgia House Bill 185 included increased funding and accessibility for Inclusive Post Secondary Education (IPSE) programs in Georgia. This was a huge win for the disability community and was made possible only by the hard work of disability advocates.

Following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and a strenuous election year, Georgia's 2023 legislative session was full of profound strides forward as well as unforeseen setbacks for the intellectual disability and developmental disability (ID/DD) community.

When a Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) initiative ends, the celebration continues. The work has planted a seed, sown results, and now all can watch the fruits and impact of the initiative multiply as time goes on. So it

TeMaya Eatmon has been chosen as the Think Tank Partner for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) initiative the Welcoming Community Movement (WCM), overseen by Global Ubuntu. Eatmon joins other leaders who are coaching those participating in the WCM

A new focus has changed the 10-year-old Real Communities Initiative, funded by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), into a totally new movement. The program, now the Welcoming Community Movement (WCM), has shifted its goal to creating welcoming communities

Life can change in an instant. From a loved one falling ill, to a natural disaster in your hometown, to a pandemic shutting down the world, emergencies can strike any time, any place and anyone. And, when it comes to people with disabilities, medical, situational and mental health emergencies can be even more critical and difficult to navigate. For example, a person who uses a wheelchair is more likely to experience a crisis if a building’s elevator breaks down, such as Naomi Williams’ son, Noah, who uses a wheelchair. He also has significant medical needs and requires full-time support, so a broken elevator can cause a dangerous situation for him and his caregivers.

With the rise of online reviews through websites like Yelp! and Google, WheelChariot, an online platform based in Atlanta, Georgia is getting in on the trend to help the disability community by providing business reviews based on accessibility.

“Nobody has a real straight answer of when [the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta (DSAA] started,” laughs Sheryl Arno, executive director of DSAA. “I've tried to find out the answers, and if we look at our paperwork, we surmise it's 1976.”

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) interviewed Emily Myers, region director at Briggs & Associates, a supported employment company that assists people with disabilities with finding employment. We spoke about the state of work for people with disabilities, unemployment among people with disabilities, and what Briggs & Associates does to help individuals find meaningful and accommodating jobs and careers.

disABILITY LINK is a nonprofit organization in Tucker, Georgia that supports Georgians with disabilities by providing five core services of advocacy, information referral, peer support, independent living skills training and transition services. disABILITY LINK has worked under its current name since 2008, providing services and opportunities to those with disabilities in 12 Georgia counties. However, disABILITY LINK’s organizational makeup is something that makes them truly unique.

In this issue of Making a Difference, Karen Addams, Vice President of Innovation at Parent 2 Parent — an Atlanta-based nonprofit that provides resource navigation and training for people with disabilities and their families — discusses the many services that help educate the community and promote self-sufficiency. Continue reading to learn more about the organization and its impact.

The first thing you notice about Kelvin Carter’s light-filled townhome is the style: The immaculate surfaces. The family photos hung above the sofa next to a silver cross. The colorful books with titles like “Empty Out the Negative” arranged just so on the weathered wood grain coffee table. From the jewel-toned shower curtain to the tidily appointed prayer room, everything in his living space is just how Kelvin Carter wants it. His voice becomes musical with delight when you ask him about two things: his décor and his church. “I love shopping and decorating my place!” says the 46-year-old in a voice burbling over with quiet joy.

What began in 2018 as an opportunity for Georgians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to share stories with their legislators has become a robust collection of photographs, written stories, audio conversations, and films displaying the diverse array of experiences

Treasure Maps: Macon, the first event in the three-part 2022 Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) Storytelling Project, kicked off on Saturday, September 17, to a wonderful crowd in Macon, Georgia. The film screening and community celebration that took place