Connection and community come in many forms, sometimes even feline ones. For St. Louis Arc resident Angie, having some connection to animals in her life was essential. Angies long-time love for cats inspired her to speak with her support staff about her desire to volunteer. She hoped to work with a local animal shelter to…
The new 2024 Spring/Summer Leisure Times is here!! Explore the new opportunities, and sign up TODAY! Spaces fill up quickly, so dont miss your chance to register now. Spring/Summer 2024 Leisure program registration is now open! To view a complete copy of the Spring/Summer2024Leisure Times Brochure,Click Here. The registration deadline is Friday, April 5, 2024….
Experiences to Build Skills for the Future! As a teenager with a disability, the goal of post-high school employment can seem huge. The St. Louis Arc provides a summer project, Neighborhood Experiences, which supports teens in identifying their post-graduation goals and in building the skills needed to achieve them. What Makes This Different Than Summer…
The Neighborhood Experiences summer project is a steppingstone for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, ages 16-21, on their way to employment. Arc participants serve as volunteers with organizations or businesses they are interested in and practice hard and soft employment skills while making meaningful community connections. Through this experience, 14-year-old Arc participant ALeah discovered…
Eric, a young man with Downs Syndrome and an intellectual disability, is always on the move. With family activities, pickleball, basketball, karate, and other community involvement pulling him in several different directions, he found himself overwhelmed with a busy schedule to wrangle. All that planning takes time! Adding to this stress, Eric sometimes forgot whether…
12,844 steps. Thats how many steps Chakeeta Thomas has taken today. And its a light day, laughs Chakeeta. If I work a banquet, its always more. Chakeeta is determined, resilient, with indefatigable energy. And, as her friends will say: she steps up. A caseworker connected Chakeeta with St. Louis Arc when she was still…
Each year families who participate in our Capable Kids and Family (CKF) and Parents Learning Together (PLT) programs receive holiday gifts as part of the annual St. Louis Arc Giving Tree. As we approach the holiday season, the Arc partners with businesses and individuals in the St. Louis community who buy gifts off a childs…
Aging with Empowerment (AWE) participant Retha has a special love of all things Disney. In addition to enjoying Disney movies, shes visited Disney World and longs to travel there again. Retha would love to go back to Disney someday, but it wasnt something she could do right now, says Stephen Turner, coordinator of AWE North…
Kele says he loves cooking, so making lunch for himself and other participants in the NextED Challenge program this past summer was easy. But other learning activities have proven useful in helping the 19-year-old community college student tackle new challenges. I learned about using the public bus system, for one thing, he says. And managing…
They call her Itsy, after the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She does hard things every dayŠŠsometimes exhausting therapiesŠŠbut Itsy is determined and smiling. When Itsy started with therapy, she couldnt hold her head up or track things with her eyes, recalls Shamecka, Itsys mom. She needed all this equipment and toys that we were trying to…