The Interim's Sue Careless recently visited L'Arche Stratford, one of the many communities worldwide inspired by Canadian Jean Vanier's love for those most often overlooked. What is most remarkable about Maranatha House at L'Arche Stratford is that at four on a Wednesday afternoon no one is home except two staff members. Gradually, the adults with developmental disabilities arrive, many of whom were institutionalized and locked away for half their lives. Now no longer isolated, they are an active part of the larger Stratford, Ont. community.
None is consigned to a sheltered workshop, but all are out and about in town.
Instead of being warehoused in one large, impersonal facility, they live in intimate family settings in five homes spread across the city. Three of the homes, Agape, Nazareth and Caritas, are in residential neighbourhoods. Upper and Lower Maranatha are located in a former convent adjacent to St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Although this offers a lovely courtyard within earshot of church bells, L'Arche would prefer Maranatha to be located on a residential street. Several years ago, a L'Arche farm near Stratford was closed because it was too isolated and lacked a sense of neighbourhood.