Not Just a Potluck grew out of the same spark that started Autistic Pride Chattanooga itself. What began as a few friends sitting together over milkshakes, talking about the gap between how our community understands Autistic life and how we actually live it, turned into something much larger. From the start, this work has been led by Autistic and neurodiverse people, and our entire board reflects that.

Our first idea was simple: bring Autistic Pride Day to Chattanooga. As part of a global movement more than 20 years strong, this would be the first Autistic Pride Day in the Southeast and one of only a few in the United States. We imagined a tiny gathering?arts and crafts, a potluck, maybe a borrowed room in a community center or church. That would have been enough.

But the community responded.

That small idea grew into a choose?your?own?adventure celebration spanning four floors of the downtown public library, with more than ten interactive experiences shaped by Autistic people, for Autistic people. Alongside the event, our grassroots 501(c)(3) has grown too. Our Neurodiverse Advisory Panel helps guide our direction. Our Autistics for Safe Food program offers mutual aid, practical support, and education. Our neuroDIVERSEcity initiative partners with local businesses to expand understanding of the Autistic lived experience through materials created by Autistic people, and is growing into a broader neurodiverse coalition.

This work keeps evolving because the people in it keep shaping it. What started as ?just a potluck or something? has become a celebration of identity, community, and pride?built by all of us, together.