FAQs

Check out our Get Involved page to see the many ways you can be part of L’Arche!

Core members or core people are the adults with intellectual disabilities who have chosen to make L’Arche their home. They are called core members because they are at the core of our community, and because of our French roots (“cœur” means heart in French). Core people are at the heart of everything we do.

An assistant is a trained caretaker who supports core members, also known as Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). They support core members with daily living tasks such as personal care, preparing food, taking medication, transportation, and much more. They do not do things for core members, they do things with core members, with core members leading assistants in learning and growing as people. Learn more about the assistant role here.

L’Arche, the French word for an ark (as in Noah’s Ark) was the name given to the original L’Arche home in Trosly, France that was founded in 1964.

L’Arche GWDC  is a multi-faith, interdenominational faith community, initially rooted in the Christian Gospel. As people with and without intellectual disabilities, we share life in community and belong to the International Federation of L’Arche. Throughout L’Arche GWDC and our fellow L'Arche communities around the world, mutual relationships and trust in God are at the heart of our journey together.

Approximately 2/3 of our funding comes from DC and Virginia Medicaid for the provision of services for people with disabilities. The other 1/3 is contributed by individuals, foundations, churches, and others. Donations enable our core members to live full, community-based lives and enable us to pay appropriate wages to assistants (DSPs) for the incredibly meaningful work they do every day. If you would like to contribute, go to our donation page.