The US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) recognized Georgia’s Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) nationally for demonstrating best practices towards providing services and opportunities for Georgians with disabilities. Launched in 2015, DEI is funded by a...

Approximately 25 people gathered at Amicalola State Falls Park from Sept. 26-28 to learn, gather and share about their work in the communities at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities’ Real Communities Retreat. The retreat brought together Real Communities partners from Clarkston,...

by Ilias N. Savakis The fundamental right to vote is granted to all US citizens under the US Constitution. Justin Dart, considered by many to be the “father” of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), once said, “Vote as if your life depends on it – because it does.” What does this mean? The...

Sometimes, when you go to college, you get lucky enough to find a new set of friends, people who will almost certainly be your friends for the rest of your life. That is definitely true of “The Fam Squad.” They hit it off the first week they met. Now, they hang out when they’re not in class,...

by Alison Barkoff, Director of Advocacy, Center for Public Representation August is usually quiet, with members of Congress on recess to their home districts and a slow pace in Washington. Not this year! Summer has been filled with the Senate and disability advocates, working on the nomination...

by Jennifer Bosk There’s a sea change coming in the lives of people with disabilities and its focus is employment training, work inclusion and financial stability. It’s already happening in Georgia, and the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is spreading the word as fast as...

by Devika Rao Include College is the newest campaign launched by the Georgia Inclusive Postsecondary Education Consortium (GAIPSEC) to bring attention to nine inclusive college programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) across Georgia. Currently, the...

The goal of Take Your Legislator To Work Day is to show the far reaching benefits to employers, employees and communities alike of hiring people with disabilities as well as to create opportunities for Georgians with disabilities to form and nurture relationships with their elected officials....

GCDD thanks STABLE Accounts Deputy Director Doug Jackson for hosting our Facebook Live Forum on how families and individuals with disabilities can stop spending down their money and save and invest it without losing their Medicaid and SSI benefits! You can view the powerpoint presentation on...

For the third year, Bounce Out the Stigma Basketball Camp came to Gainesville, GA in June. The camp’s mission is to “empower challenged youth to believe they can and erase the stigma from those who believe they can’t.” The camp is open to boys and girls, ages eight to 18, who are diagnosed with...