Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Ed Roberts, Activist

Lee Roberts: Ed's Advice to Find Your Passion

Lee Roberts: And so as a kid, he always would tell me, and to this day I keep it with me, is do what you want to do and find what you want to do. Speak for what you want to do and always carry that with passion. And I've only done what I've been really passionate about doing. I feel like it's always brought out the best in me, and that has always been through his guidance.

And then… I mean the biggest moments that… where I really feel the impact of what he had is, specifically once was after he… died, and I was accepting an award in his honor, and it was… I mean, it was just mind blowing to have people come up and say, "By shaking your hand, I feel like I've gotten… by shaking your hand, I feel like I'm shaking your father's hand. I just want you to know that your father saved my life."

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The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center, the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2401MNSCDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

This website is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,152,808.00 funded by ACL/HHS and $222,000.00 funded by non-federal-government source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.