The South has a new disability rights group with Georgia roots

A new disability organization has emerged as the first regional group focused on disability rights in the country. Founded by former members of Stacey Abram’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign team, the New Disabled South launched last November. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with co-founder and CEO Dom Kelly about what’s in store for the group.

Dom Kelly, president and chief executive officer of New Disabled South. Captured in downtown Atlanta, GA, on January 14, 2023. — by Kevin Lowery, @kevloweryphoto

What is the New Disabled South?

• The first regional disability organization in the U.S., it was created in November 2022 to lobby for and promote the needs of disabled people.
• Dom Kelly, former Georgia fundraising director and senior advisor for disability for Stacey Abrams’ 2022 gubernatorial campaign, is president and chief executive officer. Kelly, who was born with cerebral palsy, co-founded the organization with Kehsi Iman Wilson, former human resources director for Abrams’ 2022 campaign. Wilson is the organization’s chief operating officer.
• New Disabled South Rising, a 501(c)(4), is the advocacy arm of New Disabled South. Organizations with the tax status of 501(c)(4)s are able to support and oppose candidates for public office, unlike 501(c)(3)s nonprofits.

Why is this group necessary?

• Members say Southern strategy is needed in response to negative outcomes for disabled people in the South.
• Intent is to bring together people, advocates, organizers and resources to approach issues the community is facing, rather than “working in silos”.
• 7 out of 10 states yet to expand Medicaid are in the region and members say hundreds of thousand of disabled people are in coverage gaps, without health care.
• Twice as many disabled people live in poverty as adults with no disability.

What are their top priorities for 2023?

• Poverty and care: Many disabled people are living below the poverty line, unable to afford food, health care and support services.
• Criminalization: Backers want to minimize police interactions with disabled people.
• The ability to vote: Advocates say disabled people in the South are victims of the region’s voter suppression.

What about here in Georgia?

• In Georgia, 7,000 people are on the waitlist for a disability waiver. Even with 500 additional slots, disability advocates say it will take upwards of a decade to clear that waitlist.
• There is a shortage of workers who care for people with disabilities. Advocates have been pushing to raise their wages from $10.63 an hour to $15.18.
• Many disabled people here fall in a health care coverage gap here because of a lack of Medicaid expansion. Georgia has refused federal money that would cover 90% of the expansion cost.
• New Disabled South Rising is fighting against the construction of “Cop City”, a police training facility. In a press release, the group said the facility is a danger to the disabled community, citing a study’s finding that half of the people killed in the U.S. by police have a disability.

What’s next?

• The group is creating a disabled voter bill of rights to help protect the voting rights of disabled people, which Kelly says have been under attack since 2020.
• They hope to continue to reach people and let them know they are heard, seen and that people are fighting for them. “We want to be able to build that power to show our elected officials that they have to work for us,” Kelly said.