Executive Director Opening Note

Smiling woman with light skin and short brown hair, wearing a black blazer, pinstriped dress, and pearl necklace, standing indoors.

Dear Readers,

This issue is a first for us at the TN Council on Developmental Disabilities: an issue devoted to exploring how faith and disability intersect. This topic was inspired by our interest in belonging. We have been asking ourselves where, and how, do Tennesseans with disabilities find belonging? Former Governor Bill Haslam used to say, “Government is better at filling holes in roads than filling holes in hearts.” I think about that a lot. Our service system can only take us so far.

Our team has spent months conducting outreach to faith communities of all types for this issue. We learned more than we could put into the magazine. We wrestled with what is represented and what is absent from these pages. In that sense, our work exploring this topic is just beginning.

We hope reading the following pages gets your wheels turning as it has ours. As usual, we turn to you for help building the connections between faith and disability communities. Help us learn from your experiences and ideas. We are eager to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Lauren Pearcy, Executive Director