Arc of Lane County a place of hope

 

                                                               

 

 

The Arc of Lane County is a nonprofit organization that works with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Stepping Out is the Arc primary program to get people out of their office and into the Community.

The Stepping Out program was implemented in 1993 and was designed to get people out in the community socializing by doing a variety of activities. Getting individuals out in the community has always been Arc’s objective and by them giving their clients the social and cognitive skills today more and more people are entering into the community and making contributions.

Kathy Hammond is the director of the Arc’s Stepping Out Program and she has worked with the Arc for four years. Her job demands a lot of patience and requires her to be organized and coordinate events in the community.

There are about 30 adults in the stepping out program and they have the opportunity to do a variety of activities like bowling, swimming and going to the mall. This allows people to interact and gain social skills. They can gain friendships and get exercise which is better than sitting around the Arc Center doing nothing.

“My job brings me joy when I see our people succeeding, the challenging part of my job is communication with people because each person communicates differently, some use their hands some make noises it can be difficult sometimes,” Hammond said.

Arc of Lane County was founded in 1952 and partnered with Pearl Buck to start a service in Oregon that would serve adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Arc broke away from Pearl Buck and became a separate organization that would have chapters throughout Oregon.

They serve people from six months to age 70 in every capacity from preparing parents on caring for a child with a developmental disability and continuing serves for adults. They are not a transition program because they wanted to provide constant care to people and give their families piece of mind knowing their loved one is in good hands. They work with their clients to improve social skills and gain confidence.

Arc’s mission statement is enhancing personal dignity and expanding opportunities for their clients. They believe in protecting the rights of each individual and showing people that their clients have the right as everyone else to live in their community and be treated fairly.

Arc of Lane County works with several community partners to establish an understanding of how to help people with developmental disabilities succeed. Value Village is the Arc’s biggest contributor and they help them with donations.

The Arc works with people who have different levels of disabilities and they take each person individually and show them how to do different tasks. They try to give their clients freedom and responsibility. People learn how to complete task and learn how to problem solve in the program skill that are necessary to be successful in the community.

Pam Ring has worked at Arc of Lane County for 36 years and she serves as the executive director and in that time she has seen how the quality of care has changed. In contrast when she started with Arc and people with autism and other disabilities didn’t have an advocate and their parents couldn’t care for them and many were institutionalized.

Ring considers the Arc to be a grassroots organization that is affiliated throughout Oregon and while each branch as their own standards and bylaws the common goal is getting people independent and working. They work hard to ensure that each person’s needs are met and they create a positive atmosphere of learning and doing.

She mentioned that Arc is a family driven organization and emphasized that family involvement in the program will help the staff know how to work with each individuals needs are. It is important that parents, siblings and anyone else related to that person to get involved.

By getting involved and understand the disability and knowing the problem it is easier to console them if they are distraught. Having a family member with a disability is challenging but if a family can come together and get educated on disabilities like autism and down syndrome. They can help the Arc find the best way to provide service to their loved one.

  They focus on each individual to find out what that person is passionate about and then they reach out to employers and look for jobs that their clients can do. The Arc works with businesses to create jobs that match the person’s strength.

  Some employers are resistant about hiring someone with an intellectual disability because they don’t know if that person will mesh with co workers, understand their tasks or stay focused. Arc tries getting past those concerns and helping employers realize that they won’t regret giving these individuals a chance to work.

She emphasized that they are adamant about adhering to its mission statement of equality and providing people a chance to work in the community and gain social skills and responsibility. Ring enjoys her job at the Arc because it allows her to contact employers and get people working in the community.

“We serve all age groups with developmental disabilities and we use the term intellectual developmental disability and we serve from birth throughout their lifetime,” Ring said.

Misty Lyster has worked for the Arc of Lane County for seven years and is currently serving as their operations manager for donations. Lyster feels strongly about being an advocate for people with developmental disabilities and she is happy to be with Arc because of the great things they do.

“We are all the same, advocacy is very important as well as knowing each individuals abilities,” she said.

Lyster also talked about the importance of educating people about disabilities and its not as simple as black and white. Disabilities are different and require specific attention and Arc wants to point out that there is no disability more important than another.

Sydney Shook has worked for the Arc for over two years as the children and family director and her job is offering support to parents and finding solutions to problems. She also is involved in the community building partnerships and spreading the word about Arc and what they do.

“We work to change peoples mindset and we are seeing hope everyday for our clients,” Shook said.

Arc has made it possible for people with disabilities to flourish in the community and the stepping out program is a key component to Arc’s success. Getting people to work and being active in the community will enrich their lives for the better and give each person a positive future.