About The Arc

The Arc of North Carolina has been providing advocacy and services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities since 1953.

WHO WE ARE

The Arc was born almost 70 years ago from a grassroots movement of families working vigilantly to create services for children and adults who were being denied day care, educational opportunities and work programs.

Mission and Values

The Arc of North Carolina is committed to securing for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to choose and realize their goals of where and how they learn, live, work and play.

Guiding Principles

The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.

Position Statements

The Arc's position statements address critical issues related to human and civil rights, treatment, and services and programs for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.


The Arc of North Carolina is a state chapter of The Arc of the United States. With hundreds of state and local chapters nationwide, The Arc is on the front lines to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families have the support and services they need to be fully engaged in their communities. The Arc works with its federation of state and local chapters to create an impressive network of human service agencies ensuring they have the strongest civil rights advocates promoting and protecting their needs at all levels.

Governed by a volunteer board of directors, we work passionately to uphold our vision that every individual and family living with an intellectual or developmental disability has access to the information, advocacy and skills they need to participate as active citizens of our democracy and active members of their community.


Letter From Our Executive Director

Dear Friends,

Thank you for taking some time to review our website and learn more about The Arc of North Carolina. We've had many successes and challenges, but we continue to provide high quality supports and services. I'm proud of our staff, the people we serve, and the community that supports The Arc of North Carolina for rising to the challenge and pushing forward.

As always, our staff continues to work hard advocating for the individuals and families that we serve.

Our leadership and our Advocacy team has been meeting with state and federal legislators and attending committee meetings to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to have access to critical supports and services such as housing in group homes.

We lead and participate in several events throughout the year, including statewide meetings, special events with community leaders and legislators, and the Disability Policy Seminar in Washington, DC. We've welcomed several new staff and members of the Board of Directors.

We are grateful for your continued support. As I have always said, we cannot do our job without the help of the people and communities of this great state. The Arc continues to be on the front lines to ensure that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families have the support and services they need to be fully engaged in their communities.

Sincerely,

John Nash

Executive Director, The Arc of North Carolina