Citizen Advocacy of Atlanta & DeKalb, Inc.

376 Oakdale Road NE Atlanta, GA 30307
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About Us
Citizen Advocacy occurs when a competent, private citizen, recruited, oriented, and supported as a citizen advocate by Citizen Advocacy of Atlanta & DeKalb, Inc., represents the interests of one other person who has a developmental disability and is at risk of social exclusion. It has the advantages of being voluntary and free from conflict of interest, of occurring between members of the same community, and of potentially being a long-term, even lifelong, form of protection for the person who has a disability label.


Citizen Advocacy of Atlanta & DeKalb, Inc. is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established by the Georgia Advocacy Office in the 1980s; becoming independent and incorporated in 1991. *We provide protection and advocacy to people who have developmental disability labels by initiating and supporting one-to-one Citizen Advocacy relationships. We are a diverse, community-based organization. Local people make up our Board of Directors and staff. Six other independent Citizen Advocacy offices are located throughout Georgia.


*Our mission statement

 

Click here for information about Citizen Advocacy:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CitizenAdvocacy

 

Priorities


The priorities of Citizen Advocacy of Atlanta & DeKalb, Inc. in initiating Citizen Advocacy relationships are:

 

  • to protect individuals with developmental disabilities from and to pursue solutions for incidents of abuse, neglect and social exclusion

 

  • to advocate on behalf of individuals labeled as
    developmentally disabled for an integrated education in their own neighborhoods

 

  • to advocate on behalf of individuals with
    developmental disabilities to live in the community and to avoid institutionalization

 

  • to advocate on behalf of individuals with
    developmental disabilities who have other human and legal rights concerns, i.e. financial entitlements, guardianship, child custody, contracts/ property
Approach
 
     Ordinary citizens with specific selection, orientation, follow-along and support can and will, if asked, become citizen advocates, providing vigorous and powerful protection and advocacy to their neighbors who have developmental disabilities. This approach has the dual effect of providing immediate solutions for current situations and contributing to the process of long-term societal change.

      In order to avoid false assumptions, change negative preconceptions, and achieve fundamental social change for persons with developmental disabilities, people in the local community need to come to know, identify with, and ally themselves to people in their area who have disabilities, becoming involved with their situations, helping to create solutions, and developing long-term relationships with them.


 When we seek to discover the best in others,

we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.

                                      - William Arthur Ward