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Hernando Today

Spring Hill Woman Chosen As Disabilities Ambassador

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: September 21, 2008

SPRING HILL - Gina Hammons drives more than 500 miles per week to ensure her autistic son is matched with the right teachers.

The full-time parent has little time due to her daily commutes, career and familial obligations, but she makes sure to dedicate as much energy as she can to the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, which recently selected her as one of its seven inclusion ambassadors.

The grass-roots-level job requires Hammons to work with the media and with families of children with disabilities. She handles media relations and brings public awareness to the council's goals.

Those goals include advocating "inclusion" among those with disabilities, increasing Medicaid and establishing alternative revenue sources for human services and education.

"We want to energize our regions and try to get people out there and get them to advocate legislative change," Hammons said.

The FDDC serves those with mental retardation, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other developmental disorders.

Hammons' schedule, she admits, is strained due to owning a house in Spring Hill and driving her 13-year-old son to school each day in Tampa.

In spite of it all, she said she still intends to give the FDDC "as much time as I can possibly give them."

State budget cuts have led to a decline in services for children with developmental disabilities, according to the FDDC. Hammons and other ambassadors hope to stop any further decrease in government funding.

The council is a nonprofit group funded through the federal assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Developmental Disabilities, according to its Web site.

Its headquarters are located in Tallahassee.

For more information, visit www.FDDC.org.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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