# L'Arche

L'Arche ("The Ark") is an international federation of non-profit organisations working to create networks of community where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together. Founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier, Raphaël Simi, and Philip Seux, L'Arche emerged as a reaction and community-based alternative to the ill-treatment and dismal living conditions in the psychiatric institutions of the 1960s. Initially formed in the French commune of Trosly-Breuil, it subsequently expanded to over 150 communities in 38 countries worldwide.
L'Arche is a faith-based organization rooted in Christianity, but is open to people of any faith and people with no religious affiliation.

## History

In 1964, Jean Vanier invited two men, Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux, to leave the institutions where they resided and share their lives with him in a household in Trosly-Breuil, France. He named their home "L'Arche", which is French for "The Ark", as in Noah's Ark. A collection of audiovisual material from L'Arche Trosly-Breuil is available at the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto.
The first community in Canada, L'Arche Daybreak, was founded in 1969 in Richmond Hill, Ontario, near Toronto. Sue Mosteller, who lived with the Daybreak community for 40 years, acted as L'Arche's first International Coordinator after Jean Vanier. Dutch priest and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen also lived with the Daybreak community for several years until his death in 1996. He wrote about his experiences with Jean Vanier, L'Arche and the Daybreak community in his books The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey and Adam: God's Beloved. The institutional and community archives of the Daybreak community are located at the St. Michael's College, Toronto.
The first community in the UK was founded in 1973 in Barfrestone, Kent.
While L'Arche communities do consist of many different cultures and many different ethnicities and religions, the organization as a whole shares a common philosophy and approach. People with developmental disabilities and those who assist them live and work together to create homes. The L'Arche Charter says, "In a divided world, L'Arche wants to be a sign of hope. Its communities, founded on covenant relationships between people of differing intellectual capacity, social origin, religion and culture, seek to be signs of unity, faithfulness and reconciliation." The charter further outlines the objectives, the principles and the identity of L'Arche.
In March 2008, the international councils of L'Arche and another organization for disabled people founded by Vanier, Faith and Light, met for the first time in joint meeting in Lviv, Ukraine. The international council of L'Arche was represented by 30 people from 14 countries, and the international council of Faith and Light was represented by 19 people from 17 countries, including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Great Britain, Ireland, India, Canada, US, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Uganda, New Zealand, Philippines, and Italy.

## Funding

L'Arche communities are funded differently depending on where they are located. In some areas, such as Europe, they are more heavily subsidized by government bodies. In other areas, they are far more reliant on individual donations and donations from other L'Arche communities.

## Sexual abuse investigation

In February 2020, L'Arche published the results of an investigation which found that Vanier had engaged in "manipulative and emotionally abusive" sexual relationships with six women between 1970 and 2005, under the guise of giving spiritual guidance. In response, the organisation stated "we are shocked by these discoveries and unreservedly condemn these actions, which are in total contradiction with the values Jean Vanier claimed and are incompatible with the basic rules of respect and integrity of persons, and contrary to the fundamental principles on which L'Arche is based".