Our history starts with Sister Marjorie Wisor of the Sisters of St. Francis in Clinton. In the late 1960’s Sister Marjorie, who taught French in her career, spent time in Paris studying French at the Sorbonne. The first L’Arche community had begun in a small village in France in 1964 based on the principle that people with developmental disabilities had the capacity to feel, to love, and to share their gifts just like anyone without a disability. L’Arche’s demonstration that people with and without disabilities could share life’s experiences together in a community setting was a novel idea in that era when the institutionalization of people with disabilities was the norm. As L’Arche grew it became known to The Sisters of St. Francis in Clinton, who wrote to Sister Marjorie and asked her to visit L’Arche in the village where it started. Sister Marjorie not only visited but spent time volunteering with the L’Arche community in Trosly, France. Her experience sharing life with the people with disabilities there affected her deeply and influenced the rest of her life. According to Sister Marjorie her visit “….left a great impression on me as I felt layers of me being stripped away as those with disabilities met me person-to-person. There were no barriers. Our ‘persons’ met at the deepest level.”

Upon her return to Clinton Sister Marjorie explored the possibility of starting a home guided by the L’Arche philosophy. She discovered there was a need for housing for people with disabilities in the community as the area institutions were beginning to close. The Presbyterian Church offered the use of their vacant parish home, and The Arch community welcomed its first core member, Gerry Potter, on June 6, 1974. Our community was called The Arch to symbolize a bridge between the worlds of those with and without disabilities and was founded as the 2nd L’Arche community in the United States at the time. Sister Marjorie served as the first Community Leader from 1974 to 1986. According to Sister Marjorie, “God called this community into existence. I just happened to be the person here to lead it when it started.”

Today The Arch serves 35 core members (persons with intellectual disabilities) in a range of services, including 19 who live in our 4 homes. The community employs approximately 50 people, including the assistants who share life with and provide direct support for our core members, our administrative staff, and our board of directors and other regular volunteers.