About Us
L’Arche Greater Vancouver is an intentional community where adults with developmental disabilities, along with those who come to assist them, share life together in family-like settings and work environments.
Our Intention
At L’Arche there is an understanding that every person is valued and has unique gifts to contribute to society. Meaningful friendships, mutual respect and helping each other discover our gifts and abilities are at the heart of our intentional community. Through participation in an intentional community, people with developmental disabilities share their gifts and enjoy their full potential living in stable, secure, and affordable homes.
Mission Statement
- Make known the gifts of people with developmental disabilities, revealed through mutually transforming relationships.
- Foster an environment in community that responds to changing needs of our members, whilst being faithful to core values of our founding story.
- Engage in our diverse cultures, working together for a more human society.
Our Community
L’Arche Greater Vancouver is a registered charity dedicated to creating homes and community inclusion programs in which people with and without developmental disabilities live, work and discover faith together.
Founded in 1974, L’Arche Greater Vancouver is one of 31 L’Arche communities across Canada. We are an intentional community of approximately 120 people with and without disabilities. We have four homes and two community inclusion programs that support 40 individuals with developmental disabilities.
Our People
L’Arche is a unique model of support for people with developmental disabilities. At the heart of our identity is the shared commitment to recognize the value of each person and the belief that difference is celebrated.
Identity Statement
- We are people with and without developmental disabilities, sharing life in communities belonging to an International Federation.
- Mutual relationships and trust in God are at the heart of our journey together.
- We celebrate the unique value of every person and recognize our need for one another.
Community Mandate – July 2021 to July 2025
L’Arche Greater Vancouver’s community mandate will contribute to our ultimate impact of building a society where more people experience belonging, connection, and community.
Roadmap for Impact
“By an act of faith, Abraham and Sarah said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become their home. When they left, they had no idea where they were going. By an act of faith, they lived in the country promised them, lived as strangers camping in tents. They did it by keeping their eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10)
L’Arche Greater Vancouver is a vibrant community with a deeply lived spirituality, where mutual, supportive relationships are nurtured. All members are supported to grow, share their gifts, and build Community.
This 4-Year Mandate recognizes that this is a time of profound change which calls us to refound our community. We need to rebuild our unity, heal relationships where that is needed, open our hearts to welcome new people and new ways of being in community. Read L’Arche’s Communty Mandate (2021-2025).
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