501 organizations
How disability services work in Georgia
Two honest truths up front: real help exists, and the waits for some of it are long — so start applications early and use the faster doors meanwhile.
Independent living: centers like disABILITY LINK in Atlanta are run by and for people with disabilities — practical help with housing searches, benefits, equipment, and peer support, usually free and without waitlists. Home- and community-based waivers (NOW/COMP for developmental disabilities, others for physical) pay for real support at home, but Georgia's waitlists run years — apply now regardless. Income: SSI/SSDI denials are normal the first time; appeal, and get a disability attorney — they only get paid if you win, from back pay.
What to expect when you call: be ready to describe daily-life impact ("I can't stand long enough to cook"), not just diagnoses — services are matched to function, and plain descriptions work best.
Oracle Health Foundation helps children get health care when families cannot pay for needed care, equipment, medicine, therapy, or travel related to treatment. It offers pediatric grants internationally and runs free school health programs for students in the greater Kansas City area. It is not a rent or housing assistance program.
4 services
THRIVE Lifeline is a trans-led nonprofit that offers non-police, non-carceral crisis and mental health support for adults with marginalized identities. Its official site says the text lifeline is temporarily down while they raise funds, and it points people to partner peer support groups, Discord communities, coping guides, and Stronger U programs in the meantime.
6 services
Patient Advocate Foundation is a national nonprofit that helps people with serious, chronic, and life-threatening illnesses get and pay for care. They offer free case management, help with insurance denials and benefits, co-pay help, small financial grants, education tools, and resource lists.
18 services
Careforth helps family caregivers who care for an adult loved one at home. They offer caregiver coaching, care planning, help finding resources, and, for eligible Medicaid families in Georgia and other states, payment through Structured Family Caregiving.
4 services
BRIDGES is a Deaf-led domestic violence program in Georgia. It helps Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Late-deafened, DeafBlind people, and children of Deaf adults who have experienced abuse with safety planning, support, advocacy, and connections to shelter, housing, legal help, counseling, and other resources.
8 services
Grady Health System's Correll Pavilion is an outpatient medical center on Grady's downtown Atlanta campus. It provides specialty care and outpatient services such as cancer care, orthopedics, eye care, rehabilitation, outpatient surgery, breast imaging, GI care, ENT care, and oral surgery.
13 services
Georgia Department of Public Health is the state agency that works to prevent disease, promote health, and respond to public health emergencies in Georgia. Its Children’s Medical Services program helps children and youth with special health care needs get care coordination, specialty care, medical equipment, transportation help, translation help, and other supports.
10 services
Shepherd Center is an Atlanta rehabilitation hospital for people with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and other serious conditions. Its SHARE Military Initiative helps veterans, service members, and first responders with traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and related mental health concerns through therapy, medical care, life skills support, and help returning home or to work.
6 services
Atlanta Legal Aid Society gives free civil legal help to low-income people in metro Atlanta. They help with problems like family law, housing, consumer debt, benefits, health-related legal issues, seniors’ issues, and safety from domestic violence.
15 services
Claratel Behavioral Health is the new name for DeKalb Community Service Board. It helps people in DeKalb County and metro Atlanta with mental health care, crisis help, substance use treatment, developmental disability services, and support for people without enough insurance.
Kirkwood14 services
Claratel Behavioral Health is the public nonprofit formerly known as DeKalb Community Service Board. It helps people in DeKalb County with mental health care, substance use treatment, crisis help, services for people with developmental disabilities, child and teen services, and some residential support.
15 services
Claratel Behavioral Health is the new name for DeKalb Community Service Board. They help people in DeKalb County with mental health care, substance use treatment, crisis care, developmental disability services, and residential support.
12 services
Daughters of Both Suns is a nonprofit based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that serves nationwide. It helps Black and Latina women, families, and underserved communities find mental health support, crisis text support, therapy referrals, resource navigation, disability and autism support, healing workshops, and financial education.
7 services
Mindset Care helps people apply for Social Security disability benefits, including SSI and SSDI. They help with online forms, appeals, SSA calls, medical records, case updates, and representation during the benefits process.
4 services
Brain Tumor Network gives free help to people in the United States who have a primary brain tumor and to their caregivers. Nurse and social work navigators help people understand the diagnosis, look at treatment and clinical trial options, get second opinions, manage medical records, and find practical support.
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ACLU of Georgia is a statewide civil rights group. It uses lawsuits, advocacy, voter rights work, public education, and volunteer action to protect civil liberties for people in Georgia. It does not usually provide direct legal aid for individual cases, but people can share rights violations and use its legal resource list.
10 services
Marcus Autism Center is part of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and serves children with autism and their families. It provides autism evaluations, medical care, feeding care, behavior treatment, skill-building therapy, family support, research studies, camps, and workshops.
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Empowerline is the Atlanta Regional Commission's aging and disability resource connection for metro Atlanta. They help older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers find services like care at home, meals, transportation, health support, senior centers, and other community resources.
8 services
A.G. Rhodes is a nonprofit that has cared for older adults in Atlanta since 1904. Their flagship home on Boulevard, near Grant Park, provides 24-hour skilled nursing care, long-term care, and short-term rehabilitation for seniors, including physical, occupational, and speech therapy and an acclaimed therapy pool. They also run sister homes at A.G. Rhodes Cobb and A.G. Rhodes DeKalb (formerly Wesley Woods, near Emory).
6 services
A.G. Rhodes DeKalb (formerly A.G. Rhodes Wesley Woods) is a nonprofit nursing home on Emory's Wesley Woods campus that cares for older adults. It offers long-term nursing care and short-term physical rehabilitation, plus a secure memory-care unit for people with Alzheimer's, on-site dialysis, and special music and gardening therapy programs.
8 services
