The Arc of Central Virginia
Issue: July 2010 by Sarah Blanzy in Inside The Magazine, Non-Profit
It was 10:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning when I walked into The Arc of Central Virginia for the first time, but by all appearances any casual observer would think I had been there before. A group of smiling faces was leaving the building as I entered and I was greeted by most and even hugged by one. And so it went as I toured the facility with Susan Cash, Director of Day Support. Each classroom that I went into welcomed me with more handshakes, smiles and kind words than I normally encounter in a week’s time.
In 1962, a group of parents in the Central Virginia area began meeting together in an effort to come up with some sort of program for their children and others with disabilities. Out of these meetings was born the idea of The Arc, with the mission statement that the facility would be “dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities by creating and encouraging opportunities for individual growth and development.” According to Cash, it is vitally important to the disabled to have routine and structure in their day-to-day life and it is also incredibly helpful to their families to have somewhere to send them for a period of time every day.
“The program is so beneficial for people with disabilities because they need the same thing happening every day,” said Allen Layne, current president-elect and the brother of a 27-year participant at The Arc.
That first year, Camp Meadowlark was started during the summer. This was followed by another program called Camp Jaycee, then water therapy programs for the disabled. Later came the Laarc School which served 2- to 5-year-olds and severely handicapped children that the public schools couldn’t serve. The Laarc School later began serving individuals ages 2 to 21 and became the Laurel Regional Program. Finally in 1976, the organization was able to purchase property on Bedford Avenue in Lynchburg and open the Arc Developmental Center.
Now, 34 years later, The Arc is still at the same location and currently services 70 people with a variety of mental, developmental and physical disabilities, ranging from age 19 to 83. They offer a day support program, residential services and during the summer, Camp Meadowlark provides four weeks of fun for individuals ages 2 and up.
“[This camp] keeps them engaged during the summer months when they would otherwise just be sitting at home,” Cash said.
The day support program “provides a safe, supervised environment to meet each individuals needs,” according to The Arc’s Web site. This program gives participants the opportunity to make friends and build relationships with others while taking part in a variety of activities that stimulate interest and increase skills. Cash says the individuals who attend love the program and look forward to going every day.
“We have one lady that cries if she can’t come,” he said. “One time, her family had to bring her to the Arc to show her that we were closed because she was so upset. It was a holiday and she was so upset that she couldn’t come to the Arc.”
There are seven center-based classes that meet daily at The Arc in a classroom setting and there are four non-center based classes that focus on becoming an active part of the local community through volunteer work and a variety of other activities.
“[The non-center based classes] are a wonderful opportunity for our individuals to get out into the community and for the community to see our individuals and how loving they are and how much they want to help,” Cash explained. “They like the idea that people look forward to them coming and miss them if they don’t come.”
The Residential Services provided by The Arc are especially important in helping the families of individuals with disabilities. Many of these individuals require around-the-clock attention and care, leaving parents or caregivers unable to find time to attend to their own needs.
The Arc also offers the Respite Program which is available during times the day program is not in session. This program offers care for disabled individuals in their homes during the evenings and weekends, providing their families with much-needed opportunities to take care of other business or simply to relax. In-Home Support is also offered as a supplement to the daily activities of the day program. It provides individuals with further personalized training in the home to learn new skills and help increase their independence.
The Arc also sponsors residential programs in the community that provide disabled individuals the opportunity to live in a family home in the community while receiving assistance, supervision and monitoring from The Arc’s staff. Through these residential programs, The Arc is able to provide assurances that the homes meet state regulations while ensuring that caregivers receive compensation for the daily care they provide as they are often unable to work an outside job. Sometimes this program places individuals with a family in the community, but most of the time it helps provide a way for an individual to live at home with their own family.
“Most of our families have been doing it for years without any type of compensation and very little assistance at all, so it’s a wonderful program for the families,” Cash said.
Through all of these programs, the goal is that the individuals that The Arc services would be able to “live a life like ours,” Jason Witt, current board member and former president of The Arc, said. He says that being able to come to The Arc every day and have such structure in their lives is vital for people with disabilities.
“It keeps them engaged and gives them a sense of purpose,” Witt said.
In spite of the wonderful purpose The Arc serves, in difficult economic times they are severely affected. While Medicaid covers the cost of attendance for the individuals, The Arc relies primarily on donations to stay afloat.
“We’re non-profit, but our bills our not,” Cash often tells people.
Being the only day support program in the area that employs a full-time nurse and with a broad reach in our area, serving people from Lynchburg, Amherst, Bedford, Altavista, Campbell County, Appomattox and even one individual from Nelson, the need for donations is greater than ever right now.
The Arc’s goal is never to turn anyone away but to service as many disabled people in the area as they can. Cash recalled the age-old saying, “A civilization will be judged by how it treats its weakest members.” She hopes that even now, when it’s hard to give, that local donors will still find a way to step up on behalf of its disabled neighbors.
If you would like to help, The Arc will be hosting a used book sale October 1st (8 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and 2nd (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) of this year. The sale has been running for 50 years, previously run by the American Association of University Women and it was taken over last year by The Arc. They would love to accept any book donations during their hours of operation (Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) and encourage people to attend the sale.