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. Angie’s 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 fill her time when not participating in Day Programs. Using self-advocacy skills and with guidance from her direct support team, Angie independently shared her skills, availability, and desired volunteer hours with several shelters she spoke with on the phone. She was thrill ..read more

The new 2024 Spring/Summer Leisure Times is here!!  Explore the new opportunities, and sign up TODAY!  Spaces fill up quickly, so don’t miss your chance to register now. Spring/Summer 2024 Leisure program registration is now open!  To view a complete copy of the Spring/Summer 2024 Leisure Times Brochure, Click Here.  The registration deadline is Friday, April 5, 2024.  Quick Registration Please note that popular leisure programs often fill-up quickly. Please help us in our efforts to go green, by using our secure online registration and payment method. N ..read more

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 Camp? Neighborhood Experiences is an eight-week summer pre-employment training project that supports young people with disabilities in St. Louis City and County area. Participants explore job opportunities, practice workplace ..read more

Eric, a young man with Down’s 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 or not he took his medications before heading to his activities.  Eric enrolled in the St. Louis Arc’s LifeTech program with the goal of taking more control over his scheduling and personal health. He also hoped to find som ..read more

The new 2024 Winter Leisure Times is here!!  Explore the new opportunities, and sign up TODAY!  Spaces fill up quickly, so don’t miss your chance to register now. Winter 2024 Leisure program registration is now open!  To view a complete copy of the Winter 2024 Leisure Times Brochure, Click Here.  The registration deadline is Friday, December 15, 2023.  Quick Registration Please note that popular leisure programs often fill-up quickly. Please help us in our efforts to go green, by using our secure online registration and payment method. Not only does ..read more

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 A’Leah discovered newfound independence and life-giving relationships with fellow community members.   A’Leah jumped headfirst into the Neighborhood Experience program, confident in h ..read more

  12,844 steps. That’s how many steps Chakeeta Thomas has taken today. “And it’s a light day,” laughs Chakeeta. “If I work a banquet, it’s 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 a teenager, wanting to stabilize her living situation. Through Arc, she found a roommate and an apartment, with Arc staff providing several hours of support each week.    She went to work right out of high school, completing a vocational training pro ..read more

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 child’s wish list. Without the support of these partnerships, many children and families in our programs would not be able to have holiday gifts.  The process to sign-up to purchase gifts this year is virtual. Please visit the online Giving Tree list to select a wish list to ..read more

Aging with Empowerment (AWE) participant Retha has a special love of all things Disney. In addition to enjoying Disney movies, she’s visited Disney World and longs to travel there again. “Retha would love to go back to Disney someday, but it wasn’t something she could do right now,” says Stephen Turner, coordinator of AWE North County. “One thing we do in AWE is look for ways to support people’s goals and interests.” Thanks to funding from Charter’s Spectrum Digital Education grant program, the St. Louis Arc offers a variety of technology resources that enable participants to connect with the ..read more

    They call her Itsy, after the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She does hard things every day — sometimes exhausting therapies — but Itsy is determined and smiling. “When Itsy started with therapy, she couldn’t hold her head up or track things with her eyes,” recalls Shamecka, Itsy’s mom. “She needed all this equipment and toys that we were trying to buy.” A therapist suggested Arc’s Capable Kids and Families (CKF) program. CKF has helped the family get access to equipment they can borrow for as long as needed and switch out when it’s time to try something else. “Some of the specialized toys w ..read more