WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT A L’ARCHE COMMUNITY?

WHAT IS UNIQUE
ABOUT A L’ARCHE
COMMUNITY?
L’Arche homes operate under a
not-for-profit “community
model” which is distinct from
"client-centered", medical, or
social service models of care.
WHY DO WE NEED A
JOYSPRING
COMMUNITY?
Currently, Colorado does not
have a care facility modeled on
L’Arche communities, where
people with and without
intellectual disabilities live in
family-like homes, share their
lives together and give witness
to the realities that persons with
disabilities possess inherent
qualities of welcome,
wonderment, spirituality, and
friendship. This life sharing
model offers profound physical,
emotional, and spiritual benefits.
At L’Arche homes:
1. People with disabilities, and
those who assist them, live
together in homes and
apartments, sharing life with
one another and building
community as responsible
adults;
2. Everyone is believed to have
the capacity to grow and to
mature into adulthood, and
to make a contribution to
society, regardless of
physical or intellectual
limitations;
3. The important goals of
achieving personal growth
and maturing socially as an
adult are understood to be
nurtured most effectively
within the context of a
community; and
4. Individuals are best
integrated into society by
going out into the broader
community and by
welcoming the world around
them.
L'Arche communities consist of
homes where individuals live a
family life of caring, spiritual
bonding, celebration, joy, and
love. About half of the residents in
any one home are adults with
some intellectual disabilities (core
members). The other members
(assistants) are volunteers who
have chosen to give one or more
years of their lives to participate in
this unique way of living following
the teachings of Jesus.
WHAT IS JOYSPRING
DOING RIGHT NOW
Joyspring hopes to establish a
L'Arche community in Northern
Colorado by 2019. Preparation
for this includes monthly
organizational meetings,
presentations to other
organizations, visiting other
facilities and L'Arche homes, and
assessing economic feasibility
and donor support. We are in
the process of filing for
501(c)(3) designation as a
non-profit organization and have
been working with L’Arche USA
for several years to become affiliated with them as “Friends of
L’Arche Fort Collins.”
HOW CAN I
PARTICIPATE?
We welcome your involvement and
prayers as we nurture the Joyspring
community. Please fill out the form
below if you are interested in
helping us.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION
Contact:
Linda Drees
(970) 214-3006
lindadrees@comcast.net
Bill and Jane McClellan
(970) 266-0284
billandjanemcclellan@gmail.com
FROM THE L’ARCHE
WEBSITE...
JOYSPRING
FORT COLLINS, CO
L’Arche is a sign of hope to the world
of the essential values of the heart.
Perhaps an extraordinary notion in our
fast-paced and consumer-driven
society, L’Arche believes that these
qualities, expressed through
vulnerability and simplicity, actually
make those with a disability our real
teachers about what is most important
in life: to love and to be loved.
From the first community begun in
France in 1964, many communities
have developed in various cultures and
religious traditions around the world.
The first L’Arche community in the
United States was founded in 1972 in
Erie, Pennsylvania. Today, L’Arche USA
has 17 communities and three projects
nationwide.
I would like to be on your mailing
list:
Name_____________________
WHAT IS JOYSPRING?
Joyspring is a group of individuals
from different faith communities in
and around Fort Collins studying
the feasibility of establishing,
maintaining, and operating faithbased community residences in
Northern Colorado for adults with
intellectual disabilities including
those with physical disabilities.
The residences envisioned by
Joyspring will be modeled after the
L’Arche communities founded by
Jean Vanier in France in 1964.
Phone____________________
Email_____________________
Visit the Joyspring Web site:
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20
136087/NewPage/joyspring.html
“We are not called
by God to do
extraordinary things,
but to do ordinary
things with
extraordinary love.”
― Jean Vanier
Dated Febrary 2014
WHAT IS L’ARCHE
L'Arche is an International organization dedicated to the creation and
growth of homes, programs, and
support networks with people who
have intellectual disabilities.