Real Communities Learning Tour Showcases Inclusion and Community
The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) Real Communities hosted a Learning Tour in mid-April that consisted of 10-12 individuals from different states and organizations who are connected to people with disabilities in various capacities. The goal of the tour was to create a place to share, learn, ask questions, create together, socialize and reflect about ways in which participants can take what they learned back home to create or support similar initiatives in their home communities.
Kyle Bartlett, innovation and design specialist with The Arc of Rensselaer County in Troy, NY, came to Atlanta for the learning tour. “We are seeking out new learning opportunities and how we can focus on disabilities and work together as a community.”
Participants got an overview of the values, practices and principles of Real Communities while traveling to Real Communities sites, so that they could see the work firsthand. In the metro area, Dorinda Tatum with Georgia For Alternatives to the Death Penalty spoke about its partnership with the GCDD to protect the rights and dignity of those on death row while ensuring the protection of individuals with developmental disabilities from unjust application of death penalty laws. In Clarkston, visitors met with Basmat Ahmed who spoke about the Clarkston Relationship Building Group. The group also toured sites in Macon (Centenary United Methodist Church, Roving Listeners); Savannah (Forsyth Farmers’ Market, Mixed Greens); and LaGrange, home of the newest Real Communities site for Dependable Affordable Sustainable Housing (DASH).
Sumaya Karimi, Real Communities organizing director, said, “In Macon, we got to see how churches can play a role in community building and also bring people with and without disabilities together. The church made a space for those diagnosed with autism that has different sensors. And now, people with disabilities can come to the church and be a part of the community. So those are some of the examples that can be multiplied in other places.”
The tour lasted for three days around the State and had a lasting impact on those who attended.
“Ideas like Roving Listeners were simple projects that would really help us connect with the intellectual and disability community in our area,” said Bartlett. “These efforts can enrich lives in our entire community.”
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