TOM CONNELLY: Four who make a positive impact on the Albany community

Among the individuals with disabilities who graduated from Dougherty Leadership Development Institute and Leadership Albany and have positively impacted the community are Debbie McDonald, Matthew Barnes, Felicia Cartmell and James Easom.

Ms. McDonald serves as Executive Director of Limb Support Inc., a nonprofit organization which advocates for individuals with disabilities. She also serves as a peer mentor to group members.

A native of Albany, this individual also has participated in, or is involved with many other activities. For instance, she has assisted in the development of city mayoral proclamations related to the signing of the ADA, organized limb support and other disability related events, and participated in city and county commissioner meetings. Ms. McDonald is also on the City of Albany’s barrier free design board. In this position, she brings issues of noncompliance to the department supervisors.

Ms. McDonald also has experience in public speaking experience and television interviews. For example, she was interviewed on WALB for a Making a Difference segment. She has also appeared on Fox 31.

Ms. McDonald, too, has received print in The Albany Herald regarding her receiving the Lions Club of Georgia’s Anne Sullivan Award. In addition, she has received numerous awards, including the DLDI Ellen D. Raulerson Award in 2011. Furthermore, she was appointed to The State Independent Living Council board after graduating from DLDI. Regarding education, Ms. McDonald is a graduate of Albany Technical College and Darton State College. Ms. McDonald was in the 2010 DLDI and 2012 Leadership Albany classes. She has the disability of blindness and is a below the knee amputee.

Matthew Barnes is another person who graduated from both of these classes. Currently, he serves as Employment Development Counselor and Manager of the AARC Thrift Store. As such, he is an instructor of the Job Readiness Training class, Drivers Training class and Behavior Management/Anger Management class. Mr. Barnes also counsels clients. He formerly was the coordinator of the Albany ARC Special Olympics program.

Mr. Barnes has been working at Albany ARC since 2000. He is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) with an M. Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling and a B.S. in psychology. In addition, Mr. Barnes has won many awards. He was a member of Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges: he also was a member of the Albany Herald’s 40 under 40 in Southwest Georgia in 2013.

Mr. Barnes sustained a brain injury as a youth when he was operated on to remove a brain tumor. He graduated from Dougherty Leadership Development Institute in 2002 and Leadership Albany in 2006

Felicia Cartmell is an LPN and a case manager for Albany Avenue BC Resource Center. One of her primary responsibilities is to work with various ARC programs to ensure that the clients receive the services which will enable them to continue living independently, instead of a living in a nursing facility. Another main responsibility involves monitoring and coordinating program services for clients.

Prior to her current job, Ms. Cartmell worked at the Renaissance Adolescent Treatment Center in Poulan Georgia, as an LPN. She received her training as a nurse at Albany Technical Institute, and obtained her license as an LPN in 1994. A graduate of DLDI in 2010, Ms. Cartmell graduated from Leadership Albany in 2013 She sustained a brain injury as a result of an MVA when she was 14 years old.

Mr. Easom works part time as a case manager for Project ARC. Before that, he worked as a peer counselor in the independent living program for Georgia Division of Rehabilitation Services from 1990 to 1996. He then served as a peer counselor in the peer support network for Easter Seals of Southern Georgia from 1996 to 1999.

Concerning organizations, Mr. Easom has been involved with many of them, He served as president of the Active Disabled Citizens Association, and was on the board of the Albany Transit System. He also served on the Albany Barrier Free Committee and on the Board of Directors of Albany Advocacy Resource Center.

Mr. Easom graduated from Darton College in 1994. He graduated from the charter class of DLDI, and then Leadership Albany in 1996. In 1973, Mr. Easom sustained a spinal cord injury from a diving accident which resulted in his having quadriplegia. He then lived in various nursing homes from 1979 to 1989, and considers himself a nursing home survivor.

Tom Connelly, a long-time Albany resident, is a public relations specialist who is a member of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Albany Advocacy Resource Center advisory board and the Georgia Rehabilitation Association.