“Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.”Those are the famous words of Tevye, the main character in Fiddler on the Roof. Without giving any spoilers, I can tell you the story is about a loving family...

When the University of Georgia (UGA) launched Destination Dawgs in January 2017, the vision was clear: create a fully inclusive program where students with intellectual disabilities could learn, grow, and thrive alongside their peers. What bega...

Joy is powerful. It helps us stay strong, connected, and hopeful. As the holiday season approaches, we’re celebrating the moments that brought smiles and strength this year. We asked several self-advocates from Uniting for Change to shar...

UnlockGA is a group of people and organizations working together to make Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) easier to get for people with disabilities and their families. The group looks for problems in the system and pushes for changes t...

As we look back on the year, we know that you and others are making communities better every day for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities (I/DD). So, GCDD decided to find out what’s working across Georgia in your town. 

In Georgia, a training program is helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities become leaders in their communities. My Voice. My Participation. My Board. is a program that started in 2014, and has trained 85 Georgians to serv...

Jacquelyn Daniel, founder of ConnectAbility in Dahlonega is the 2025 Spirit of Kim Unsung Hero Award Winner! This award celebrates individuals who demonstrate selfless service to Georgia's intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) commun...

The National Business Association says that small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They create two out of every three new jobs in the country. They also make up almost half of all the money and goods that America produces each year. ...

Happy Fall! The season of cool breezes, cozy sweaters, and pumpkin spice lattes is here.I’m excited to introduce myself as the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities’ (GCDD) new Chief Program Officer. In this role, I’ll be working...

During the summer, President Trump provided a plan on how the government should spend (appropriate) its money. Congress is reviewing the plan to decide if it agrees with it or wants to make changes. These changes are called markups. 

Every election presents an opportunity for people to shape the future of their communities. Voting allows people to lend their voices to improving their city, state, or country. Derek Heard, an Albany native with autism, is developing a voter e...

In September, the disability rights community mourned the loss of Shelly Simmons. Simmons was a pioneer for Georgia’s disability movement and served as the Executive Director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia. She passed aw...

Hi, my name is Ben Oxley and I’m from McDonough, Georgia. When I was a kid, McDonough was a quiet little town, just 20 minutes south of the hustle and bustle of Atlanta. Older people and the generation of folks like me only knew it as a quiet l...

Hello advocates! We’re back with another federal update on critical funding for the disability community. In our previous articles, we’ve worked hard to give you all the essential information about how proposed federal budget cuts could affect ...

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), their families, and allies work hard every day to make life better for the disability community. Along the way, they face many challenges in society, politics, money, and systems. ...

Please join me in welcoming GCDD’s two newest employees: Cathy Harmon-Christian as our Public Policy Director and Rena Harris as our Chief Program Officer. By the time you read this, they will have been on the job for a couple of weeks, settlin...

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities welcomes two new staff members. Rena Harris is the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities’ (GCDD) new Chief Program Officer. M. Cathy Harmon-Christian, PhD is GCDD’s new Public Policy Dir...

Session is out and we are in the middle of summer, but the perfect time to advocate is now. We’ve experienced many changes over the past few months. These include funding shifts at the federal level to key developments within the Department of ...

When it comes to inclusive education in Georgia, the Georgia Coalition for Equity and Education (GCEE) is changing how families advocate for children with disabilities in schools. This organization is making sure their voices are heard. 

My name is Natasha Nelson, and I was born in 1989 as the oldest of seven children to Ruby Miller, a single mother living in Rome, Georgia. In kindergarten, I was evaluated and put in the gifted and talented program. But my childhood was a confu...

There is a bridge my daughter crawled across as a baby. It is a playground bridge. Back then, I wanted her to play like a big kid. So I would help her crawl across. Now as I am writing this, she is walking across it in a few steps. She is a twe...

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) thanks Georgia families and self-advocates for their hard work. You used your voices to speak for other Georgians during a big federal budget debate. House Resolution 1 (HR1) passed. It i...

The disability rights movement lost one of its visionary leaders when John O'Brien passed away on June 27, 2025. For decades, O'Brien and his wife Connie Lyle O'Brien championed a simple belief: that every person deserves to be fully included i...

Every July, the United States celebrates Disability Pride Month. This month is a time for people with disabilities to feel proud of who they are, speak up about their rights, and celebrate being seen and heard in their communities. It is also a...

By Evan Nodvin - For the past 12 years, I’ve been proud to serve as a council member for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). Looking back now, I realize just how much I have grown, and how much the council has grown t...