Make An Impact During Giving Tuesday Making Choices, For a Life in the Community Jake Martine will tell you his ultimate goal in life is to “live and dream big.” And to Jake, that means having fun in life, having a job, a home of his own, getting married and having a family, growing big…
The St. Louis Self-Advocates, the Arc’s newest advocacy group, kicked off their summer programming in a big way. Hosting “St. Louis Self-Advocates Present: An Evening with Rep. Tracy McCreery”, the group took full advantage of the time policymakers spend working in their home districts. The young self-advocates invited local legislators to meet virtually for a question-and-answer session to ensure their voices were heard on various issues. Advocating and…
When you first meet Michkeal and Samantha, it is clear that they are leaders. These two young adults are friendly, open, and excited to meet new people – perfect traits to help lead a group to empower others and connect people. The St. Louis Self-Advocates is a new group founded through the Arc this past year. Their…
This October the St. Louis Arc is joining other organizations in sharing the importance of voting in the November mid-term elections. Organizations around the nation are asking people to complete the statement “I vote because…”. Ann Mangelsdorf, assistant director of Family Support and Advocacy shares “it’s fun and inspiring to see what motivates people to…
How did you make decisions in the last month? Did you get advice about a medical procedure, google information about car repairs, or talk to your best friend about a relationship issue? We all get support for decision-making. Why can’t the same be true for a person with a disability? An Alternative to Guardianship Arc…
It started with a small seed in the 1950s: an idea that all children had the right to an education, medical care and places to play, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. Back in 1950, there weren’t many choices if you had a child with an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD). Services and supports were…
Neighborhood Experiences is a unique program which engages participants, ages 13-20, in volunteer and work experiences to achieve personal and career goals.
What is Everyday Advocacy? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines advocacy as “to support or argue for or plead in favor of”. Being able to advocate for a cause or for oneself is important if we want or need to get the responses we desire. Many people think of advocacy as only legislative advocacy, but it is so…
On March 1, 2017 the nation observed Spread the Word to End the Word, a day dedicated for society to stop and think about the use of the R-word. At the St. Louis Arc, the Social Justice Committee honored the day by asking the question “Which words would you like people to use to describe…
How I Felt Before My Autism Diagnosis Recently we came across an article by Thomas Hassell, a contributor to The Mighty, titled “How I Felt Before My Autism Diagnosis”. Thomas shared how he is different now, verses when he was younger. That got us thinking about Arc participants who are transitioning to living independently, many…