InTucker Magazine

Business of the Month – DisABILITY LINK

DisABILITY LINK is a center that opens doors and opens minds to empower people with disabilities. By helping change the mindset of individuals, they help push their imposed and assumed limits and help them see their abilities. DisABILITY Link has been located in Tucker since 2014 and has made a positive impact on people’s lives, even beyond the community of Tucker. Their main goal is to give individuals with disabilities the opportunity to see their gifts and abilities and the tools needed to succeed.

“It’s supporting people in achieving their own life goals,” Executive Director of disABILITY LINK Kim Gibson said. “So for me it’s kind of satisfying they get the option to succeed or fail. We give them the tools. We provide all the training we can and if they choose not to use it or they choose to use it is left to them, so it feels empowering.”

DisABILITY LINK provides training, teaches skills to live independently, aids in obtaining housing and grants, allows access to technology and offers rehabilitation services. Their specialized computer lab includes computers that have the software JAWS (Job Access With Speech). JAWS is a screen reader program that helps those with sight impairment by reading internet pages out loud. The lab has many other features as well and provides computer classes such as coding along with basic computer skill classes. DisABILITY LINK serves all of the Metro Atlanta area in multiple counties including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Rockdale, Butts, Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, and Upson.

DisABILITY LINK was founded in 1998 in Decatur, Georgia. After several years their needs grew and they required more space to continue providing their level of service. Their search brought them to Tucker with a larger facility and plenty of room to expand. Gibson said she felt the immediate support from the community of Tucker. Soon after their relocation to Tucker, she realized she would like a bus stop and a crosswalk light in front of their new facility. Gibson said that she reached out to Mayor Frank Auman to express her concern. Soon after their conversation, Gibson saw that both a stop and a crosswalk had been installed in front their office. Gibson credits Mayor Auman with the improvement and the swiftness of the response.

Many individuals have benefited from the programs and disABILITY LINK has played a part in many success stories. Gibson shared a story of one family who had been told their son could not expect more from life than sitting in front of the TV playing video games and collecting social security. His mother brought him to disABILITY LINK looking for more for her son. With the guidance, support and opportunities afforded him at disABILITY LINK, he was able to attend a conference in Washington D.C. for the National Council of Independent Living.

Listening and learning from fellow disabled individuals motivated and inspired him to seek out opportunities of employment in an industry that interested him, and he became a full-time maintenance technician.

“Last year he wrote me an email saying I just want to thank you again Mrs. Kim because I am in my job that I love,” Gibson said.

In addition to the services provided to their clients, disABILITY LINK offers volunteer opportunities to the Tucker community. Local companies donate time and goods as well as money to aid in fundraising efforts. All people are welcome to reach out to the office to sign up to help.

With the support of their client families and the surrounding business and resident communities, disABILITY LINK is able to aim for equity and equality and continues to change lives.

“It’s really helping individuals with disabilities stand up for their rights but also educating others about peoples’ rights because disability rights is only one piece of civil rights,” Gibson said. “It just does not stop at disability rights. It’s equal rights for all. For me it is making sure we are not forgotten.”

DisABILITY LINK is located at 1901 Montreal Road, Suite #102, Tucker, GA 30084 and online at disabilitylink.org.