Our Impact
Our impact is felt in the homes and beyond. In the homes, core members are welcomed, received and celebrated. This enables them to live out their vocations, namely, to welcome and open the hearts of assistants, extended community members, and the professionals with whom they interact. L’Arche Portland is a school of love. When we who are not developmentally disabled find the courage to embrace what seems different or scary, our hearts open and we find ourselves welcomed in new and powerful ways.
Beyond offering, stable, long-term relationships for the core members in our homes, L'Arche imparts to the broader community its vision of the unique value of every person, our need for one another, and the transforming power of mutual relationships. Each year L'Arche inspires over 1500 people, including newsletter recipients and over 200 youth group, tree sale, and monthly volunteers. In our 25 years, over 90 assistants who have shared life with core members have taken L'Arche values into their own homes, work places and communities.