Chad Lowery's life is a testament to resilience, dedication, and a passion for serving others. His journey has taken him through various roles, from leading a police department to advocating for disability rights and seeking public office. This article explores the different facets of Lowery's life, highlighting his achievements and contributions to the community.
Early Career and Public Service
Lowery's career in public service began with his tenure as the Police Chief of Medina. He served in this role since 2009, demonstrating his commitment to the community and his leadership abilities.
In his resignation letter, Lowery expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve as Chief of Police.
He stated, "I appreciate the opportunity you and the City of Medina have given me to serve as Chief of Police in my tenure with the city. I have enjoyed my role as a public servant to the community and leader of my department."
Lowery's resignation took effect on October 7, 2014. "I feel at this time in my life I need to make a change," he continued. "So as of today, October 7, 2014, I hereby resign as Chief of Police."
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Advocacy for Disability Rights and Special Education
Lowery, who has cerebral palsy, is a student in VCU’s School of Education, majoring in special education. This path reflects his deep-seated desire to support and empower individuals with disabilities.
“I have a passion for helping other individuals with disabilities,” Lowery said. “I feel like people - or society, rather - doesn’t expect individuals like myself to have the desire of having a job, going to school, having a career, having a family someday."
After graduating from high school in Chesterfield County in 2018, Lowery joined the RRTC’s Business Connections program the following year.
Mallary McEvoy, an RRTC employment specialist, met regularly with Lowery to review his strengths and interests, such as advocacy for disability rights, supported employment and special education, as well as a chance to work with individuals with disabilities.
“We were able to create, through the support of his job coaches here, a visual résumé that played into his strengths,” McEvoy said. “One of those things was that Chad had some really awesome artwork. He had a modeling gig at one point, and we were able to put some of those modeling pictures on his visual résumé and just allow that alternative format to show Chad as a whole person.
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Lowery uses assistive technology in his everyday work. A joystick and Bluetooth connection from his wheelchair allow him to use a dwell clicker to highlight part of a computer screen and click on items. A screen-based keyboard with some word prediction helps him type more efficiently.
Lowery uses a dwell clicker, an assistive technology device, to help him complete his work duties.
“He’s really on top of it with his tech, and he was able to self-advocate and say, ‘Here’s what I need, here’s what I don’t need,’” McEvoy said.
Lowery added, “I may have a disability and I may need accommodations, but it doesn’t mean you have to change the whole process and protocol or the job description.
“I want to do something in the area of special education,” he said.
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Assistive Technology
Working at BeneCounsel
Attorney Matt Bellinger, owner of BeneCounsel, discusses work tasks with Lowery. Bellinger hired Lowery in 2023 as he expanded his law firm operations.
Matt Bellinger had started BeneCounsel in 2014. “I was trying to figure out Medicaid waiver services, getting really confused, threw my pen down and literally thought to myself, ‘You’d have to quit your job and do this full time to figure it out’ - and I was an attorney,” Bellinger said. “That’s where the lightbulb went off.
In 2022, as the firm’s caseload had grown, he began searching for legal assistants. “I was thinking, I could go the standard route and hire a paralegal. But then I started thinking, well, that’s typically how you would do it, but is that really what I should do?” Bellinger said. “Why don’t I hire a person with a disability, because that’s who I serve?
Bellinger was familiar with VCU’s RRTC through a family member who had used its Business Connections program. He sent the job description and application process to a number of organizations, and Lowery was among the applicants.
“Chad is super focused,” Bellinger said. “Chad does all of our guardianship documents. Chad writes the powers of attorney and recently started doing trusts and wills. So it’s not just clerical work. We’re ahead on guardianship cases.
“I really like collaborating with our clients or just people,” Lowery said. “I’m very interpersonal.
“The benefits to my organization, and I think any organization that successfully hires persons with disabilities, is that you become a better organization,” Bellinger said. “In order for it to work, you really have to focus on the employees - what are their needs, anticipate the accommodations they may need - and that has a carry-over effect on your other employees, too.
Community Involvement and Political Aspirations
Chad Lowery's engagement extends to community matters and even political aspirations. His decision to run for the unexpired term of the late Commissioner Jerry NeSmith in Athens highlights his desire to influence local governance.
An Athens resident discusses his decision to run for the unexpired term of late Commissioner Jerry NeSmith in the November 3rd Special Election. Chad Lowery says he’s getting involved because of recent events around the nation and here in Athens.
“I joined a rally downtown a couple of months ago that was actually a rally to support our police officers. At that particular time, there was a movement, a motion to defund the police department in Athens-Clarke County, and I've lived here for about 30 years, and I just thought that was kind of a knee-jerk reaction to what’s going on in other parts of the country, it really wasn’t applicable to Athens-Clarke County.”
While a political newcomer, Lowery says he brings life experience to the job. “I don’t have any experience in politics. What I could bring to the table here in Athens-Clarke County is a lot of experience and a lot of maturity and wisdom.”
He believes that he has more supporters in the community than many may think. “I just feel that a lot of Athens citizens are underrepresented by the commissioners that are in there currently. I feel like they are, I guess what you’d say, the silent majority.”
Lowery says he can make a difference in two months on the commission. He is facing Commissioner-Elect Jesse Houle in the race.
In another instance of community involvement, Chad and Beth Lowery contested a book on a middle school reading list, advocating for age-appropriate content for young students.
The parents of a Clarke County middle school student will appeal to the state Board of Education after Clarke County School Superintendent Philip Lanoue declined to change his decision not to remove a book from a classroom reading list.
Chad and Beth Lowery had asked school officials to remove the book, "And the Earth Did Not Devour Him," by Tomas Rivera, from a middle school class reading list at Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School, where their daughter is a student.
Lanoue would not, but offered to allow parents to opt out if they didn't want to read the book considered a classic of Chicano literature.
But a paragraph in the book, describing an old man's frustrated, angry outburst, contained language that 12-year-olds shouldn't read, the Lowerys believe. They didn't ask that the book be removed from the library, just from classroom reading lists, Chad Lowery said Thursday.
After Lanoue's initial decision, the parents appealed to the Clarke County Board of Education, which last month ordered Lanoue to reconsider his decision in a 5-2 vote.
Lanoue reconsidered, but did not change his mind, he wrote the Lowerys late last month.
"I maintain the position that the one paragraph does not overpower the other literary elements that this book can offer our students," Lanoue wrote in a letter to the Lowerys. "My final decision is that the novel 'And the Earth Did Not Devour Him' will remain as a novel in the media center available to students and be used as an option in support of the middle school curriculum."
The couple will appeal to the state Board of Education, Chad Lowery said Thursday.
"We feel like it's just not appropriate language for a 12-year-old to be exposed to," he said.
The state board's last similar appeal was in 2006, when a Gwinnett County parent asked to have the popular "Harry Potter" series removed from an elementary school media center, according to Dorie Nolt, a spokeswoman for the state Board of Education.
The books promote the Wicca religion, the parents contended.
Legal Matters
It is important to note that there is another individual named Chad Ervin Lowery who was involved in legal issues. It is crucial to differentiate this individual from the Chad Lowery discussed above.
A 35-year-old defendant is on his way to prison facing nine years to serve due to a combination of a new charge and a probation revocation.
Chad Ervin Lowery was in Jones County Superior Court March 21 to enter a guilty plea to the charge of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and his probation for a 2013 RICO charge was revoked in full.
Lowery received five years to serve for his new sentence, which will run concurrently with the probation revocation. He was arrested Sept. 19, 2023, after a high-speed chase with Jones County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Lowery was one of 50 individuals arrested on or around Oct. 22, 2013, and charged under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. He entered a guilty plea to the charge Jan. 28, 2016, and was sentenced to 20 years. The end date of the sentence is Oct. 21, 2033.
Courtroom Gavel
Lowery was represented in the March 21 proceeding by defense attorney Hoganne Harrison Walton. Assistant District Attorney Cara Fiore represented the state, and Superior Court Judge Amanda Petty presided.
Fiore styled the case for the court. She said the state agreed not to file the sentence under the recidivist act in exchange for the guilty plea and stipulation of the probation violation. The prosecutor said Lowery has an extensive criminal history with arrests in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2022.
In addition to that, she said he has picked up three felony probation violations.
“Mr. Lowery is not a good candidate for probation,” Fiore said. “That’s what we looked at when we made our recommendation.”
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