For 60 years, L’Arche has been creating and running communities around the world where adults with intellectual disabilities live and work alongside assistants, who are either paid employees or volunteers, and who support them.
Each community consists of two to ten households (also known as "households") designed as "family homes" where daily life—with its meals, moments of relaxation and celebration, and household chores—is shared by all, according to their abilities. The communities have Day Activity Centers (CAJ) that offer a wide range of activities (educational, manual, and sports).
Some also have an Establishment and Service for Support through Work (ESAT). In this community life with people of different backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and ages, people with disabilities find their rightful place, with their vulnerabilities and talents. Through their spontaneity and interpersonal skills, they profoundly transform human relationships and make an essential contribution to living together. With its long experience, L'Arche bears witness to the fact that relationships with people with disabilities promote the construction of a more humane and inclusive society.
In France, L'Arche comprises 40 communities welcoming nearly 2,000 people with disabilities, and 150 communities around the world.