Lifelong Care and Relationships

The L’Arche Greater Washington, D.C. community centers around life-giving and life-changing relationships, led by the adults with intellectual disabilities (called core members). Many of our community members, including core members and assistants, live together in L’Arche homes – we have two homes in DC and two in Arlington. While providing needed housing and support services, L’Arche also offers much more: we are a community that supports each other, whether we live with the experiences of intellectual disabilities or not, through daily joys and challenges.

Education and Advocacy

A critical aspect of the L’Arche mission is developing inclusive communities throughout our city and the world. Core members lead us in welcoming others and modeling how to build and grow communities based on true inclusion. Core members speak in town halls and congressional offices, teach in university classrooms and on panels, and share the mission of inclusion in their churches, workplaces, and wider neighborhoods. Together, we advocate for state and federal laws that promote inclusion. Through persistent efforts, L’Arche is creating more inclusive communities.

Mission of Transformation

In L’Arche, mutual transformation and growth is a way of life, one which we enact by developing ourselves as leaders and supporting each other on our spiritual journeys.