EIN: 52-1233065
Mission Statement
Make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, revealed through mutually transforming relationships.
Foster an environment in community that responds to the changing needs of our members, while being faithful to the core values of our founding story.
Engage in our diverse cultures, working together toward a more human society.
Program Summary
The heart of our work is providing holistic, person-centered belonging and community in inclusive L’Arche GWDC homes for people with disabilities. L’Arche is unique among residential service providers in that core members (adults with intellectual disabilities) and assistants (people without intellectual disabilities who support core members, working as Direct Support Professionals) choose to live life together like a family.
Two of our homes are located in South Arlington.
Lifelong care and relationships are foundational.
We believe it’s possible to shape a world that welcomes every person as a fully valued and meaningfully contributing member of society. We do this by providing holistic, individualized care for core members (adults with intellectual disabilities) rooted in mutual relationships.
Education and Advocacy are essential.
Our way of life has the power to remove barriers between people with and without disabilities. Through formal and informal educational moments, we promote the understanding that all people are valuable and integral to mutual thriving. We advocate for each other and for laws that promote inclusion to create more human communities.
Mission of Transformation is the result.
We nurture each other’s leadership potential and spiritual formation to discover who we
are and how we can contribute to the greater good. Investing in our model of belonging and community supports opportunities for transformative relationships across difference and makes a more human society possible for all.
Impact Statement
Core Members – adult with disabilities who live in our homes – have specifically reported the following benefits of our model:
What ways can the public get involved?
Join our Community Connections Program for adults with and without intellectual disabilities, held one Saturday each month in Arlington.
Join an online prayer night. Prayer nights happen on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm Eastern Time. Click here for the Zoom link and to learn more.
Invite us to come to your community (workplace, faith community, etc) to talk about L’Arche.
Contact us (info@larche-gwdc.org) for more opportunities, including volunteering.
How are charitable dollars spent? Where does my donation go?
The impact of your donation to L’Arche GWDC can be seen in our daily lives – in the cozy, safe homes we live in, in the vans that get us where we need to go, and in the loving relationships between core members and Assistants/DSPs. Medicaid funding covers basic needs like shelter and food. Donations allow us to thrive and truly participate in our community. With donations, we maintain our homes and yards, go on vacations together, ensure that our Assistants/DSPs receive meaningful wages, go out to eat with friends, buy groceries and utilities, do outreach, and so much more.
Information provided March 2024