The GCDD Storytelling Project
In 2018 and 2019, the Georgia Council of Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) teamed up with talented writers and photographers who set out across the state to collect some great stories about people with developmental disabilities. The Storytelling Project was born.
Since 2018 we have collected 120 stories for our Telling Our Stories project (click here to view those stories), created the first season of our Hidden Voices podcast, and shot a short documentary film 6,000 Waiting (now available for screening). The year 2020 was quite different for Georgia, from social distancing to ‘back open,’ the residents of Georgia with and without disabilities have adjusted their lives to new social rules. The Storytelling Project responded with season two of the podcast Hidden Voices focusing on the experience of social distancing and with our Over the Wire video project, which was a collection of virtually collected stories that were dispersed virtually. In 2021 and 2022, Treasure Maps: The Georgia Storytelling Roadshow brought pop-up, interactive, drive-in theatre productions to locations across the state.
Finally, in 2024 the project worked collaboratively with Equitable Dinners and Out of Hand Theatre to create A Seat at the Table. These two community gatherings brought together art, dinner and discussion about the value of equitable opportunities and supports in the lives of Georgians with developmental disabilities and their families.
A Seat at the Table - A Transformative Conversation Around Equity, Disability, and Support
GCDD hosted A Seat at the Table: A Transformative Conversation Around Equity, Disability, and Support on February 6 and 27, 2024. These gatherings brought together art, dinner, and discussions on the importance of equitable opportunities and supports for Georgians with developmental disabilities and their families. This event was part of the GCDD Storytelling Project led by L'Arche Atlanta. Guests participated in person at the Georgia Public Broadcasting studios in Atlanta on February 6 or virtually via Zoom on February 27.
GCDD and L'Arche partnered with Georgia-based Equitable Dinners and Out of Hand Theatre. The two organizations, with years of experience creating meaningful conversations around educational racial disparity through art and dialogue, focused their first event on disability.
Treasure Maps: Macon
Treasure Maps: Macon, the newest iteration of The Storytelling Project, a partnership between the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, L’Arche Atlanta, and StoryMuse, returned to Macon in the Fall of 2022. Learn more about this entertaining roadshow.
6,000 Waiting
Documentary Film
Premiering January 2021, the film follows three Georgians with developmental disabilities as they navigate Georgia’s daunting Medicaid waiver system. Find out more about the film here.
Hidden Voices
Podcasts
GCDD created a 7-episode podcast, called Hidden Voices, spotlighting the stories of people with developmental disabilities and their families. Click here to listen to those podcasts.