The Arc Minnesota

The Arc Minnesota's mission is to promote and protect the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We do this by supporting people with IDD and their families navigate a complex and fragmented disability service system. At the same time, we challenge the reliance on this system by empowering program participants to explore all of their available options for support, including supports that arise organically within their communities. We gather our community together to advocate for systems change that will promote inclusion and end discrimination. 

This Give to the Max Day, we are highlighting programs and strategies we are emphasizing and implementing in order to provide accurate, timely, and accessible resources to people with IDD and their families.  

Read below to learn more about what your support can help us build upon.   

Expanding our accessibility statewide ...

Today we’re sharing the story of a Minnesota family whose life was positively impacted by The Arc. Although they wish to remain anonymous, they want their journey to be known.   

A mother and her 25-year-old son with Autism remember the times of apprehension and loneliness, as they struggled to find the services and resources they needed. They shared their story of thankfulness for The Arc and the resources that paved a way for an accessible college education.  

Through the newly implemented statewide Help Desk, The Arc is able to connect with families of a person with a disability and provide them with the resources and community they need. Since its launch in 2021, the Help Desk has reached Minnesotans in 52 counties and in 2022 alone, the desk line has received nearly 900 calls regarding issues such as decision-making support, education, financial wellness, and health.

When struggling with what steps to take for her son with autism, the mother reached out to The Arc Minnesota with her uncertainty concerning what resources would be the best fit for her son’s future. 

Recently, she called our Help Desk and shared that her son received great resources and is now graduated from college.  

When asked what they would share with others who do not know The Arc and are facing similar circumstances, they shared, “The Arc makes me feel like I’m not alone and have a support network. I didn’t have a large network of parents who had children with disabilities. Arc has been my go-to “parent” when I didn’t have those relationships or network to lean on. They are a trustworthy source of information. They are synergistic and supportive as you navigate different life issues.”  

Guiding our work with our core values ...

Through our commitment to progress, we are dedicated to our four core values which influence our work statewide. Those guiding values are as follow:

1. Human and Civil Rights - fighting for everyone's equal rights
2. Self-Advocacy and Self-Direction - advocating for everyone's ability to have control in their lives
3. Equity and Belonging - establishing a trusted and accessible community
4. Disability and Racial Justice - focusing on the freedom of people with disabilities and ending discrimination

For more information on what our mission is founded upon, visit our website. 

Giving people the power to advocate for themselves ...

The Arc Minnesota champions our self-advocacy program and all those who advocate for positive change through public policy. Through our work, we seek to support those leading the disability rights & racial justice movements. We are committed to ending both the ableism, racism, and other types of oppression experienced by Black, Indigenous, and other People of color who have disabilities in Minnesota. 

Amy Jo is an outstanding example of the self-advocates that aid us everyday in advancing our mission of promoting and protecting the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

Amy Jo was first introduced to The Arc Minnesota through attending self-advocacy conferences. From there, she involved herself in every self-advocacy opportunity that came her way. She has been the president and vice president of People First for years, along with involvement in Theatre Club, Advocating Change Together, Self Advocates Minnesota, and many other groups offered by The Arc Minnesota.  

Through her time in self advocacy programs, Amy Jo has been given the tool of advocating for herself, while educating others to do the same. By creating a network centered around people, not systems, The Arc Minnesota supports people in their unique lives, connecting them with the resources and community they need.

This Give to the Max Day, will you support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they advocate for themselves and their communities in Minnesota? Whatever amount, your gift makes a difference!