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"People with a developmental disability often possess qualities of welcome, wonderment, spontaneity, and directness. They are able to touch hearts and to call others to unity through their simplicity and vulnerability. In this way they are a living reminder to the wider world of the essential values of the heart without which knowledge, power and action lose their meaning and purpose." --from the Charter of the Communities of L'Arche |
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I joined the L’Arche Portland community in 2004 as a live-in assistant. As a daily life community member, I lived at Neahkahnie House with two other assistants and four core members. One of these core members is a man named Rodney. So with his permission, I’ll tell you a bit about his story.
When Marilyn, a community member with a developmental disability, was asked how she would describe L’Arche, she said: “It’s a place where they want you.” Her description of L'Arche Portland is a powerful one. It’s powerful for her because she spent so much of her life in places where she didn’t feel wanted or welcomed.