Filling in the Gaps
Who We Are: Filling in the Gaps is working to decrease the stigmas associated with mental health AND disabilities through increased awareness and education, create spaces where individuals feel inspired to "show up" as their authentic selves in safe, supported environments, and provide programs and opportunities that promote holistic personal development. We seek to help communities, organizations, groups, schools and families engage in authentic dialogues about topics that are often hard to talk about such as race, disabilities, mental health and to help orchestrate ways that we can collectively work together to reverse the narrative from ignorance and bias towards compassion and understanding for our communities.
What We Do: Filling in the Gaps, a part of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities' Welcoming Community Movement, envisions a community where all people regardless of race, disability, gender, age, economic status, religion or sexual orientation have access to appropriate resources to help them achieve their full potential. To that end, they offer core programs in:
- Tutoring/Skill Development for K-12 and adult populations., Executive Functioning Skill Development, as well as Training/Workshops.
- Mental Health Advocacy including Youth & Adult Outreach and Support, Social/Emotional programs that teach self-advocacy skills, and Teen Group specific to combating social anxiety through targeted community immersion to practice skills
- Leadership/Empowerment Programs which cover Confessions of a Lady- Empowerment Program for Women, I AM FAB (Fierce, Anointed, and Blessed)- Empowerment Program for Youth, HEstory- Empowerment Program for Men, and TALONS-Empowerment Program for Individuals with Disabilities.
- Training/ Speakers Bureau and Authentic/Restorative Dialogue Series.
Filling in the GAPS LLC Authentic Healing & Restorative Dialogues have been designed to offer individuals within local communities a safe place to have authentic, real dialogue around topics that are timely and relevant to our current societal issues within a safe, judgment-free environment. The overall goal is to create spaces where individuals who are otherwise marginalized can be included, heard and respected.
This project will have a major impact on both Black people and individuals with developmental disabilities because they will be included in every step - from the planning stage all the way through to the final execution of the project. Our goal is to reduce the stigmas that are often associated with race and disabilities and to initiate community efforts that will lead to system change to lead to more widely acceptable practices for inclusion of all people in our community.
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