Build Relationships. Share Your Story.

This March, NACCD is proud to celebrate Developmental Disabilities Month with the launch of We’re Here: Then, Now, Always campaign. The national campaign recognizes a simple truth: people with developmental disabilities have always been part of our communities — and always will be. 

The campaign connects past, present, and future through a powerful storytelling framework: 

  • Then: A time when many people with developmental disabilities were hidden, segregated, or excluded from community life.
  • Now: Individuals living full lives — working, building friendships, parenting, volunteering, participating in faith communities, and contributing to their neighborhoods.
  • Always: A future where community living is protected, expected, and funded – andnot viewed as a program, but as part of a whole life. 
Now, it’s your turn. The community has many ways to participate. Here’s how:
  • Join our relationship-building campaign. This provided individuals with DD and family members to build relationships with key decision makers in their communities, state, and federally.  
  • Share your Then, Now, Always. We have now opened a national portrait collection to show the faces of the DD community across the country and sharing their story.  

Through powerful storytelling and visuals, We’re Here: Then, Now, Always highlights how far the disability community has come and why continued advocacy efforts have strengthened the commitment to inclusion and community living.  See more below on how to get involved.

The campaign, organized by the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities,  launches in March 2026 and runs till February 2027. 

Community members, businesses, faith organizations, schools, and local governments are encouraged to participate by sharing campaign materials and local “Then / Now / Always” stories. 

Collage-style campaign graphic for NACDD’s 2026 Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month theme, “We’re Here. Then, Now, Always.” The top section features a black-and-white historic photo from March 12, 1990, showing disability rights activists crawling up the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the Capitol Crawl protest, with photographers documenting the moment. The middle section shows three young men in suits standing inside a state capitol building, smiling and holding folders, representing present-day advocacy. The lower left section shows a group of young adults with developmental disabilities sitting together on the floor, smiling and making peace signs. The bottom right section includes a group photo of adults with developmental disabilities seated on a staircase, smiling at the camera. The campaign text reads: “We’re Here. Then, Now, Always.” alongside the NACDD (National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities) logo.

Build Relationships

  • Meet your lawmakers! Take a moment and head to this portal to send an email to your lawmaker. Introduce yourself and start to connect with them 1:1: https://nacdd.quorum.us/DDAM2026/ 

Then, what’s next?

Relationships are built over time. Now, here’s what you can do next.

1) A Day in the Life: Invite your lawmaker to be a guest in your daily life! Show them your place of work or your child’s classroom or whatever daily experience you feel would tell your story best. Let’s build community.

2) Coffee dates: Make appointments with the lawmaker’s aides or staff and try to schedule at least one coffee talk or similar meeting. When lawmakers come back to town, set up time for a coffee to go meet them. Let them know you are a part of the community they represent.

3) Start showing up! Start thinking about ways you can engage in your local and state work. Go to your county board meeting, city council meeting, and your DD Council meetings. Even if you don’t have an issue to discuss, let local lawmakers and local leaders to start seeing you and building relationships.

If you did one of the three or ALL three, let NACDD know by emailing us a story and/or photos to media@nacdd.org! Your story might be featured in our newsletter and social media channels (with permission, of course!)

Share your “Then, Now, Always.”

People with developmental disabilities have always been here.

We’ve always been part of our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, faith communities, and families.

For NACDD’s Then, Now, Always campaign, we’re inviting people with developmental disabilities, family members, advocates, and community members to share a portrait and a short story. Share your story here.

Then

What do you want people to know about the past? This could be a personal experience, a memory, a milestone, or a reflection on how life, opportunities, or communities have changed over time.

Now

What does community, belonging, or inclusion look like in your life today? Tell us about the people, places, activities, work, relationships, or experiences that matter to you.

Always

What do you hope for the future? What should always be true for people with developmental disabilities? What does a community where everyone belongs look like to you?

Submit Your Story

Along with your story, submit a portrait that shows who you are today.

Together, these portraits and stories will help show the many faces, experiences, and dreams of the developmental disabilities community across the country.

Because people with developmental disabilities were here then, are here now, and will always be here.

We’re Here. Then, Now, Always.