Thanks for your note and glad you are safe. In Georgia, we went from a tremendous high to a very low place in a matter of hours. Many of us in Georgia were up all night Tuesday waiting for the election results. Got a few hours sleep and then were up all night yesterday as we witnessed the worst attack on our country since 1814. I am exhausted.

The Georgia Disability Voter Partnership did a great job of outreach (getting people registered), information (we had an online Candidate Forum with interviews of all 4 candidates and a survey/focus group of potential voters), and we helped people get rides to the polls. With the small margins of both Warnock and Ossoff, we believe the disability vote helped put these two over the top. I think they will both be Senators we can call upon and will support our issues.

BTW - Sign1News did a fantastic job of producing the Candidate Forum. First time to work with them but would recommend their work.

I also want to note that we had a lot of input from national organizations such as AAPD, ARC, NACDD, and Respectability. We can have a much longer conversation about the support and concerns that come from working with what often felt like an overwhelming number of people and organizations that wanted to be involved and in charge.

I hope that 2021 calms down soon. Can't take another 2020!

Eric E. Jacobson
Executive Director
Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities
(404) 657-2120
www.gcdd.org

Your vote counts! Read GCDD's guide for Georgians with disabilities heading to the polls here.

From: xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com <xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com> on behalf of Donna Meltzer <xxxxxx@nacdd.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2021 4:02 PM
To: 'xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com' <xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com>
Subject: DD Councils Thanks for Your Concern

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Friends – I want to take a moment and thank you all for your care and concern of your national staff yesterday during the siege on the Capitol. It was wonderful to connect with many of you on the weekly Wednesday Zoom call to talk about the situation and assure you all that we are fine. Fortunately, our staff has all been working remotely and none of us was in the city at all. Clearly the events of the day were frightening and heartbreaking. We are taking the time to process it and move forward with the important work we need to do for our members (all of you) and the greater population of people with I/DD. We are picking up the pieces and moving forward.

While we were dealing with the unfolding scenario in Washington, DC, we learned that two new Senators were elected yesterday in the State of Georgia. Congrats to Eric Jacobson and the folks at the Georgia DD Council who did tremendous work not once, but twice getting the disability vote out in the state. More people than ever voted, including people with I/DD which is a huge win.

For now, I am focusing on the good to come and the work that needs to be done. I thank you all again for your care and concern and for doing the amazing work that you do every day to ensure each and every person has equal access to their rights.

Stay safe and healthy,

Donna

Donna A. Meltzer, CEO

National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities

1825 K Street, NW Suite 600

Washington, DC 20006

202-506-5813 office

301-704-2180 cell

xxxxxx@nacdd.org

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