Hello and welcome to The Waiting Room, a podcast that shines a light on the ever growing Medicaid waitlist and unmet needs of people with intellectual and/other developmental disabilities in North Carolina. Join us as we focus on this issue, educate, inform and build a community along the way. I’m award winning motivational speaker, activist, and your host, Kenneth Kelty.

Today I have two very special guests for our first episode. Please help me welcome Executive Director of The North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities, Talley Wells, and Program Director for LAND and Meet The Need NC, Beth Field. Meet the Need NC is a new initiative from the NCCDD to address the registry of unmet needs or waitlist, and the unmet services and supports for North Carolinians with I/DD. Today Talley and Beth are going to be sharing with me why The Waiting Room podcast was created and why this podcast is needed now more than ever.