Project aims to highlight stories of those living with intellectual, developmental disabilities

Treasure Maps: Macon, the newest iteration of The Storytelling Project, returns to Macon this fall.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Treasure Maps: Macon, the newest iteration of The Storytelling Project, returns to Macon this fall.

The Storytelling Project was created five years ago in partnership between the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities and L’Arche Atlanta to increase public awareness and motivate Georgia legislators to act now for this remarkably underserved community, according to a news release.

“The project provides a platform for participants to be known on a human level and to understand the policies that govern the extent of their own self-determination,” the release stated. “By providing living portraits of individuals, some of whom have, some have not, received a life-altering benefit, the project is endeavoring to expand cross-sector allies and garner voices of support outside of the developmental disabilities community.”

“The primary objective of this project is to provide a virtual stage for the important stories of people with developmental disabilities, inviting their stories in from the margins to the center of our communities,” lead artist on Treasure Maps: Macon and Founder and Creative Director of StoryMuse Shannon Turner said. “An equally important component is to provide education and advocacy to the general population and legislators around the Medicaid waiver, a vital funding structure which supports the lives of people with developmental disabilities so they can live independently.”

According to Turner, nearly 7,000 Americans are awaiting approval for the Medicaid waiver.

“If a person doesn’t have the right support in their lives, then sometimes they graduate high school, they go home and just become lost for a very long time,” Turner said. “So the Medicaid waiver is really integral to them to get out and live in the community just like you or I would.”

Visit larcheatlanta.org and gcdd.org for more information.