OUR PROGRAMS
The Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities is focused on Leadership and Advocacy, and Community Inclusion and Belonging to empower individuals to drive positive change while creating welcoming equitable environments where everyone feels valued. Together, these goals support a more inclusive, engaged, and representative community.
GOAL AREA 1:
Leadership & Advocacy
SUPPORTING WHOLE-FAMILY WELL-BEING AND ADVOCACY
The purpose of this project is to increase the number of families who, across their lifespan, are engaged in personal and systems-level advocacy by:
Developing and launching a network of family-led or family-supporting organizations, with the goal of enhancing and coordinating efforts to support families who have an individual with an intellectual and/or developmental disability. This initiative will support organizations to help them develop a trauma-informed, culturally responsive approach to amplify resilience and align impact with the intent to support families in Indiana.
Subrecipient: Aligned Consulting Collaborative
NEXT LEVEL SELF-ADVOCACY IN INDIANA
(SELF-ADVOCATES OF INDIANA)
The Next-Level Self-advocacy in Indiana project aims to invest federal funds to support the council in advancing their five-year state plan, as outlined in the DD Act. The focus is on leadership and advocacy, with a goal to engage and train at least 300 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD), their families and allies in self-advocacy by September 2026. Key initiatives include funding the Self-Advocates of Indiana (SAI) to establish new and local youth chapters, provide leadership training, promote civic engagement, and increase public health education. The project also seeks to reduce barriers to participation in cross-disability and culturally diverse leadership coalitions. Performance metrics were tracked through participant satisfaction and outcome surveys and quarterly reports, with an emphasis on expanding community involvement and increasing awareness of SAI’s efforts and reach statewide.
GOAL AREA 2:
COMMUNITY INCLUSION & BELONGING
COMMON THREADS STORYTELLING (LEARNING TREE)
The Learning Tree is working on a project called “Common Threads: Possibilities, Joy and the HeArt of Storytelling,” which aligns with our second goal area, community inclusion and belonging. Stories will be gathered from people with disabilities to create portfolios that will develop into a resident-led opportunity to explore how community insight can improve service delivery; transform DD services and advocacy research culture; and center community-based knowledge and experience as a basis for policy, service delivery and legislation.
WE’RE HERE ALL YEAR - COUNCIL IN COMMUNITY
We are excited to announce the launch of the “Snack Chats” as interactive, in-person opportunities in our local community! As participants, you will get the opportunity to:
- Connect and network with the council, GCPD staff and the community at a grassroots level.
- Discover and learn more about the DD Act and Indiana’s DD Council.
- Share and contribute ideas, opinions and your voice on the topics that matter most.
