Consider the power parents have as change agents for their children. Now consider how that power multiplies exponentially when parents band together to fight for education for their children with disabilities. This power created The Arc NW in 1961. Sixty years later, we are still a powerhouse for change and inclusion. Every day we work together to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are fully included in community life. Inclusion is more important now than ever before. We live in a country divided by politics, policies, and a pandemic, riding a tsunami of change greater than we imagined. When all people are valued and have a real voice, we have the power to harness the changes of our day to create a fulfilling life for everyone.
During the 2021 presidential inauguration Amanda Gorman shared these words in her poem “The Hill We Climb”:
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.
When the day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.
The new dawn balloons as we free it.
For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
The Arc NW is “brave enough to be it” as we strive to build inclusive communities.
Gretchen Sanewsky
Executive Director