ABOUT L'ARCHE >>

ABOUT L'ARCHE GREATER WASHINGTON, DC (L'Arche)

WHAT IS L'ARCHE ?

Gene and Kathy dancing L'Arche Greater Washington, DC (L'Arche) is a faith-based organization that creates home and family-like community with people who have intellectual disabilities and those who assist them. The aim of L'Arche is to create communities which welcome people with an intellectual disability and give them a valid place in society.

Since 1983, L'Arche has provided housing and support services to people with intellectual disabilities (the core people) in two multi-generational homes located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. L'Arche is also expanding into Arlingon, Virginia this summer. Support services include a variety of individualized professional and para-professional services including:

assistance with personal care
transportation
medical care coordination
money management.

To learn more about professional services, go to Professional Services.

Core people have a variety of special needs - cognitive, emotional and physical disabilities -- as well as the universal need for stable, nurturing relationships and the security of a lasting home.

A model for living based upon acceptance and understanding.

“L'Arche Washington, DC seeks to reveal the particular gifts of each person with a developmental disability who belong at the very heart of their communities and who call others to share their lives.”
-- L'Arche Charter

What distinguishes L'Arche is its focus on building meaningful, personal relationships between people with disabilities and those who assist them. Core people are the heart of each L'Arche community which tries to respond to the fundamental needs of the human heart - home, fulfilling work, a chance to learn, participate, contribute and have fun. Daily life at L'Arche has a normal rhythm that is set by the core people of the community. Core people help with routine household tasks and in the preparation of meals. They participate in day programs outside the community and several hold part-time jobs. There are no outsiders at L'Arche. Community members and friends share meals, prayer, celebrations, special events and holidays as extended family and friends. Each member contributes to community life.

Assistants live in the homes and share daily life with core people. L'Arche fosters mutual respect, love, appreciation, and understanding between community members. Assistants help core members succeed in realizing their personal growth. Core people help assistants build community.

To see where some of the core people work, go to www.art-enables.org.

Building Communities of Faith

L'Arche communities are communities of faith, rooted in prayer and trust in God. They seek to be guided by God. Each community member is encouraged to discover and deepen his or her spiritual life and live it according to his or her particular faith and tradition. Those who have no religious affiliation are also welcomed and respected. The community prays together after dinner and at community celebrations. L'Arche is open to people of all religions, races, genders and sexual orientation.

L'Arche is deeply concerned by the distress of people who suffer injustice and rejection because of their outward disabilities. An integral part of L'Arche is its outreach programs which teach others to build inclusive communities around people with developmental disabilities. The positive relationships between the people living in the L'Arche homes and their neighbors have helped foster a sense of acceptance, awareness, and understanding of differences. L'Arche seeks to provide opportunities for others to develop mutual friendships with people with intellectual disabilities.