Arc of Augusta celebrates half-a-century

The Arc of Augusta will celebrate 50 years of service with a Waynesboro picnic tonight and a renewed urgency about building its membership and fulfilling its mission to serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The nonprofit Arc provides life skills training and other educational services each week to 25 people 18 and older with disabilities from Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County.

Arc of Augusta Executive Director Warren McKeen said.

A plan is created so that each participant can set goals for learning.

The agency’s goal is to provide “education, advocacy and work to improve lives,” McKeen said.

Whether it is a sign language class or money management, the idea is to make the clients of the Arc more independent.

“They have every right to live as everyone else does. They are people,’’ McKeen said.

Funding for the agency’s programs comes from a variety of sources such Medicaid reimbursement and from nonprofits such as the United Way of Greater Augusta, the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, the Knights of Columbus and others.

McKeen and longtime Arc of Augusta board member Glenn Slack said a more urgent need is to attract members to support the Arc.

A new membership drive will start tonight. Members would be regularly briefed and updated on Arc programs and needs.

“We need to build our membership to get a critical mass of people working in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County to have our people totally included in the community,’’ Slack said.

Slack said Arc’s goal is provide independence for all Arc clients, including those who take advantage of an Arc program for the more severely disabled at the Valley Community Services Board in Staunton.

“We want them to have a life like anyone else with education, housing and opportunities for education,’’ Slack said.

Slack said the alternative is to put Arc clients in institutions or segregated housing and limit their access.

With the right training, Slack said Arc clients “contribute to the community and are allowed to use their gifts and talents. They become taxpayers in our society.”

Beyond growing Arc membership, a long-term goal is to build a new, more modern facility for the agency to replace its 1,800-square-foot main office on Fairfax Avenue in Waynesboro.

Both McKeen and Slack said a new building would require a capital campaign that won’t happen in the foreseeable future.

Slack credits McKeen with providing strong leadership for the local Arc.

“Warren brings so much knowledge. He’s able to get things done. I feel good about where we are,’’ Slack said.

While Arc once stood for Association for Retarded Citizens, that description is no longer appropriate or used.

Local Arc officials said the “A’’ stands for advocate to influence public policy. The “r’’ means resources for all individuals, and the “c’’ signifies connecting families and communities to improve systems and support services.