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The Arc of
Georgia is Moving!!
The new
year is bringing many exciting changes for the state
chapter. We are moving to new office space in
January.
Our new address will be:
100 Edgewood Avenue
Suite 502
Atlanta, GA 30303
1-678-904-1967
Fax: 1-404-527-7187 |
Why I am a Member
of The Arc of Georgia
Stephen R. Hall, Director
Georgia Office of Developmental
Disabilities
I was with a group of Government Officials and
Providers of Services one time when one of them said this about me
and to me “Well the problem Steve is this, we can’t be sure whether
you are one of us or one of them—one of the advocates.” My response
was direct,
“Let me help you end that confusion, I am
first an advocate for people with developmental disabilities and
their families and I am against every bureaucracy created by
Government Officials that is more about protecting themselves than
people with disabilities and I am against Providers of Services that
choose to scare and manipulate families and people with disabilities
rather than making the changes necessary to offer them a choice of
the newer and very good services. But if you are a Government
Official that promotes changes that bring about the empowerment of
these citizens and their families and if you are a Provider that is
up to date and knows how to ensure citizens with disabilities have a
real life in this wonderful democracy and its communities, then I
consider that you too are an advocate.”
I have been a member of The Arc all of my
professional life. Through The Arc, I met some of the greatest
leaders and teachers of our time. Through the ARC, I met great
families with real questions that I have worked hard on and
successfully answered. And through the ARC, I came to know citizens
with developmental disabilities as real people like myself who have
dreams and really just want everyone to be as happy as possible.
The Arc is a place where you can gather and
meet other people who care deeply about citizens who have
developmental disabilities. About 1.5% of all Americans are people
with a developmental disability and about 11% of us know and care
about these citizens. It is not like the other 89% are without
compassion. Instead, they simply don’t know about these citizens
and about how important they are to American society. It was said
that the worth of a society is not determined by its’ wealth but by
its treatment of the most vulnerable of its members. This begs the
question, “What is government for?” Since wealthier, well-educated,
or very smart individuals are likely to do well with or without
government, it seems likely that government should be for those
citizens, like people with developmental disabilities, who without
some collective help and support of other citizens, would not be
able to be a part of our democracy at all. That people with
developmental disabilities never did anything wrong, that they are
by definition either “born innocent” or came to have a disability
during childhood, just emphasizes the point.
So back to the question, Why am I a member of
The Arc of Georgia? Because when I speak about respect, decency,
caring, and love of other human beings then I have someone who will
listen to me and when others speak this way, even those who cannot
speak in the same way that we do, then I will be able to hear their
voice and be a better human being from my listening. And together,
oh together, yes we can help make Georgia one of the best places in
America for everyone.
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Of Georgia
