L'Arche Identity Statement

"We are people with and without learning disabilities sharing life in communities of faith.  Mututal relationships and trust in God are at the heart of our life together.  We seek to build a world that recognizes the unique value of every person and our need for one another."

Whenever my focus becomes about me and my service, I must stand back and be reminded that it is ALL about our core members, who will be here long after I have left.  It's their energy, joy, enthusiasm, pain and suffering that is at the center of our environment.  Another important lesson is the change from that of 'wanting to do things for' to that of 'listening to'', and a readiness and openness to be transformed by the experience.  In The Heart of L'Arche, Jean Vanier speaks about the developmentally disabled having awakened a part of his being that had been under-developed, dormant.  Through them, a new world began to open up for him, not the world of efficiency, competition, success and power, but the world of the heart, of vulnerability and communion leading toward healing and wholeness.