Letter from Leadership: The Chance to Make Life Better for Georgians with Developmental Disabilities

I am the Chair of the Grants Selection Committee for the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities. This work has taught me something important: a grant is never just a grant.On paper, a grant can look like numbers, forms, deadlines, and money. But behind every dollar is a real chance to make life better for people with developmental disabilities across Georgia.That is why this work means so much to me.GCDD gives out grants to fund projects. These projects help build a Georgia where people with disabilities can live, work, learn, talk with others, and take part in their communities in ways that matter to them.The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to build a more interdependent, self-sufficient, and integrated and included disability community across Georgia.This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001GASCDD-03, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.