For more than 55 years, the Arc of Greensboro has been a resource for those with developmental disabilities and their families. The organization helps this community in three key ways—by publicly advocating for those with special needs, by providing guidance and employment support for the Greensboro area’s working-age adults with disabilities, and individual case management.
Leaders of the Arc, along with some of those developmentally disabled that they work with, visited the Governor’s Office this week to meet with senior staff. I helped provide the Arc delegation with information about Gov. Perdue, her office and the Capitol building where we met.
Our discussion with them about how the Governor’s Office works will help peel back the curtain on what can appear to a complex state government. I hope our meeting will generate some new advocacy ideas for the ARC and will broaden the horizons for the disabled who met with us.
They are capable people who want to live happy and independent lives like everyone else. One man we met, named Jerry Ballard, is a talented painter. He gave us one of his paintings of cardinal, the state bird, and it will be displayed in the State Capitol.