Letter from Leadership: Your Voice Matters

This summer, I want to encourage every Georgian with a developmental disability — and every family member, caregiver, and advocate — to engage with your elected officials.

Significant decisions are being made right now in our state legislature, in state agencies, and in Washington. These decisions involve funding levels, program structures, and policies that will directly affect the lives of people with developmental disabilities in Georgia for years to come. The people making those decisions need accurate, firsthand information about what those impacts look like on the ground.

That is where you come in.

Elected officials represent you. Part of their job is hearing from the people whose lives are most directly affected by the decisions they make. When you share your experience — whether in a phone call, an email, a town hall, or a public meeting — you are giving them information they cannot get anywhere else. Your perspective as someone living with a disability, or as a family member of someone who does, is genuine expertise. It is valuable, and it is yours to offer.

Here are some practical steps you can take:

• Visit your legislators' websites to learn where they stand on disability-related issues.
• Call or email their offices to ask questions about legislation and funding that affect your community.
• Attend town halls and public meetings where these issues are being discussed.
• Share factual information about how specific policies affect people with developmental disabilities in Georgia.
• If engaging alone feels difficult, bring a friend or family member.

If you need reliable facts and figures on disability policy issues, GCDD's resources at https://gcdd.org/public-policy are a good starting point. Come prepared with information, and bring your own experience alongside it.

Civic engagement works best when officials hear a wide range of voices. People with developmental disabilities and their families bring perspectives that are often underrepresented in policy conversations. Your participation helps ensure that decisions affecting your community are informed by the people who understand those issues best.

I encourage you to take one step this summer — a call, an email, a meeting. Every voice adds to the picture that decision-makers need to do their jobs well.

D'Arcy Robb
Executive Director of GCDD