Love is at the heart of L’Arche
The first L’Arche community was founded in France in 1964 by Jean Vanier. A Canadian philosophy teacher, Vanier visited French mental asylums. Witnessing patient’s suffering unleashed a profound affinity for disabled people, and Vanier resolved to build a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities could live and work together as equals. Vanier bought a run-down home in the French town of Trosly-Breuil, the first of over 150 communities across 38 countries, including 18 (and growing) in the United States. Vanier named his new community L’Arche, meaning The Ark, a boat of salvation that appears in Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu scripture.
In the US, each community is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, and is governed by its own board of directors and managed by a caring and professional staff. L’Arche communities are united through their membership in L’Arche USA and in the International Federation of L’Arche.
Identity & Mission
Our mission is to found a community in the Bay Area where people with and without disabilities share life and are linked together through an international federation.
Charter of L’Arche
The aim of L’Arche is to create communities which welcome people who have intellectual disabilities.
L’Arche USA
L’Arche USA is the umbrella organization of nearly twenty communities and a number of emerging communities in the U.S.
L’Arche International
There are more than 150 L’Arche communities in the world spread over five continents and 38 countries.
friendsoflarchesfba.org 