Feature Issue on Loneliness and People with Intellectual, Developmental, and Other Disabilities

L’Arche community members pass a candle and check in with the group in mind, body, spirit, and heart.

There is so much more that needs to be done in order to make the whole world feel like a place with no barriers, so that no decision is made about us without us.

I was born with the developmental disability of cerebral palsy, as well as all the hard, sad, yet joyful and beautiful, things that can come with having to live life with IDD.

We are a non-profit organization focused on building a community without the traditional four walls of a building, or an intentional community without walls, as we like to say.

Not all core members can have their own staff or PCAs to assist them at these events. Like helping a core member drink their water so that they can get their basic human right and need met. When there is no assistant, it may be that single barrier which can make some core members very anxious and scared enough to be unable to attend and fully enjoy our events which is very heartbreaking for us. One of our core members was less than a mile away at his day program and he really wanted to come be a part of the celebration, but his staff was unable to transport him so unfortunately, had to miss out on the day’s festivities.

SOMETIMES THE RESOURCES are not there, and we wish we could do more. Before I found out about nonprofits like L’Arche, I didn’t know that I could use my disability in a positive yet constructive way. I didn’t know that I could use my life experiences to change the world.

We do this by planning excursions, ranging from sports games, movies, live shows like improv, cookouts, and joining virtual events with other similar organizations.

To show them that no matter their religion, background, gender, or communication style, they can, and deserve to live a life in a world without any barriers. It is one of the only places in my life where I can feel safe and truly appreciated for who I am and all that makes me who I am, quirks and all. There is no concrete handbook on how to raise a child with any degree of IDD, in a culture that says and is not afraid to show you, that if your body doesn’t function in a way that it should, there is something wrong with you, you are sick, and you need to be cured/fixed.

We each can learn something from one another. Loneliness, and that need for a community, to be validated and understood, is a very universal feeling.