The Arc logo

Comcast NBCUniversal and The Arc Team up to Support Local Disability Agencies and Digital Literacy for People With Disabilities

/in , /by

The Arc of the United States and Comcast NBCUniversal today announced a three-year renewal of their national partnership to expand digital technology opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Comcast NBCUniversal is providing $400,000 to The Arc’s Tech Coaching Centers, which operate their national digital literacy program, as well as chapters that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are immensely grateful for Comcast NBCUniversal’s continued support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, and the work we do to protect their human rights and support their participation in society,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc. “Many of our chapters have been hit incredibly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are truly fortunate to have such a longstanding and steadfast partner in Comcast NBCUniversal in our work to support our chapters and expand access to digital technology that will open up doors online and offline for people with disabilities.”

The Arc’s national network of more than 600 chapters provide vital resources and services to individuals with IDD and their families to promote greater independence and opportunity in the community. With the support of Comcast NBCUniversal, The Arc will continue the important work of connecting its clients with digital skills to enhance their paths to independence through digital literacy training and financial support. Since 2017, more than 1,800 clients have received basic digital skills training at 16 sites around the country. Additionally, for the next year, Comcast will help fund general operating costs for some chapters of The Arc that face financial challenges as a result of the pandemic.

“Through the Tech Coaching Centers and our long-standing partnership with The Arc, we’ve witnessed so many examples of individuals gaining employment, learning digital skills, navigating the internet, and more,” said Dalila Wilson-Scott, EVP & Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation. “We believe it is vital to continue supporting these efforts to help create economic mobility for people with disabilities.”

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses:  Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky.  Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest video, high-speed internet, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses.  It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand.  NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts.  Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services.  It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed internet, phone, and wireless services.  Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original content, and has exclusive content rights.  Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

The United States Capitol Building

The Disability Community Must Once Again Show #WeAreEssential

/in , , , /by

By: Nicole Jorwic, Senior Director of Public Policy, The Arc

After being all but ignored in the first three legislative packages that Congress has passed to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the disability community must rise up. We are once again fighting for our lives in Congressional negotiations—this time during a global pandemic. And the outcome will impact the services people with disabilities rely on, severely strain systems that provide those services, and may close down service providers all over the country that support people with disabilities to live the lives they choose.

This is far from the first time in my five years in Washington, DC, that I have watched Congress overlook the disability community. In 2017, the year Congress tried again and again to cut funding to Medicaid, a program that people with disabilities rely on for supports and services, we made them pay attention. But it took people with disabilities and their families coming forward to share their most personal stories, and some literally putting their bodies on the line, to show Congress that Medicaid means life and death. Together we were strong enough to hold off the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, protect the integrity of the Medicaid program, and show the power of our community.

And, again, it seems the issues that matter to the disability community are being ignored. Our chapter network is on the front line of this pandemic: some of the people with disabilities they serve have passed away from COVID-19, and others don’t have the supplies for staff to safely serve or quarantine. The direct support professional, or DSP, staff often help people with disabilities with very personal tasks that can’t be done from six feet away, yet the personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to do these tasks safely is scarce. And in the coming weeks and months, we know that some service providers will be forced to close, leaving families like mine with nowhere to go.

But the fight to save Medicaid in 2017 showed that when we band together as one voice, we can make things happen.

Despite the magnitude of what we are facing as a country, this is the time we must once again share our stories. We must demand that Congress address the needs of the disability community in legislation to combat COVID-19.

Here is what Congress MUST do to support the disability community:

  • Funding for a Medicaid grant program to support access to home and community-based services (to minimize the risk of people with disabilities being forced into institutions) and to support the DSP workforce. Congress should pass the Coronavirus Relief for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act.
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) for direct support professionals. This is urgently needed to protect the health and safety of this critical workforce. Direct support professionals must be designated as essential workforce so that they have access to the PPE and medical supplies they need.
  • Paid leave for caregivers. As more people with disabilities lose their usual sources of care, family caregivers are scrambling and need access to paid leave and sick days to help their loved ones. Congress should include all family caregivers in the emergency paid leave provisions.
  • Help for people on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to access Recovery Rebates. People with disabilities on SSI are being asked to file needless paperwork in order to access economic stimulus payments. Congress should tell Federal agencies to use their existing authority to share data and file for people on SSI.

The asks of the disability community around this crisis are simple: recognize that whether it is individuals with disabilities, their family members, or the DSP workforce, #WeAreEssential.

Ready to act with us? Here are three easy ways:

Call CongressEmail Congress Tweet Congress
Headshot of smiling woman with red hair in front of flowers and bushes

The Power of Belonging: A Community Comes Together

/in /by

By Rachel Baker

R. Baker

Our community of Midland, Michigan, is a community that works hard to create inclusive opportunities for everyone. This past January, The Arc of Midland received a grant to organize and execute our first MLK Day of Service project. With the help of over 175 volunteers, we packaged and delivered food to over 1,000 people on one of the coldest days of the year.

The 175+ volunteers braved the cold to help direct traffic and deliver food. One man, Tom, came to receive food and ended up volunteering the entire day!

“I had no intentions of staying to help, but once I saw everyone working together to help people like me, I had to stay and be a part of giving back to the community that was giving to me.”

The Arc of Midland is lucky to be widely supported by many businesses, clubs, and organizations in our community that pitched in on this effort. The Great Lakes Loons (a local Minor League Baseball team) played host to the chapter’s Day of Service event. Not only does the team provide a safe, accessible, and welcoming environment for everyone to enjoy, but they also employ many people with disabilities throughout the year.

Another crucial partner was Hidden Harvest. Since 2016, we have partnered together through a variety of programs and projects—including a free pantry stocked weekly and supporting the community together when a fire ravaged an apartment complex where many people with disabilities and seniors lived. During this year’s MLK Day event, they provided food assistance, transportation, volunteers, and logistics for packaging of the food.

The Arc of Midland’s MLK Day work brought thousands of people together in service to build a stronger community. Together, every partnering organization, volunteer, and person receiving assistance honored Martin Luther King Jr. and his vision of belonging. 

MLK blog image

The Arc logo

New Videos From The Arc Spotlight Need to Close Institutions, Support Community Living

/in , , /by

In 2019, 37 states still have institutions where people with intellectual and developmental (I/DD) live away from their families and communities. Some may recall the horrible investigative reports over the last few decades that showed the terrible conditions in institutions, but many people fail to realize the facilities still exist and that state and federal dollars are still funding them. The Arc of the United States was founded by families trying to eliminate the need for those institutions and to get their family members with disabilities back home and included in their communities. While we have come a long way, there remains much to be done from state capitals to our nation’s capital.

The Arc developed this video to highlight the issue and to educate the general public about institutions, and to urge action to close the remaining institutions and support people with disabilities, no matter their level of need, back into the community.

At The Arc we also understand that it is more important than ever that we educate the general public about why inclusion and acceptance matters and that they join the fight to ensure that the progress that we have made as a disability community is not stalled.

We have to talk about the fact that institutions remain open, and how those dollars would be better spent in the community. We have to educate the general public about how Medicaid makes life in the community possible. We have to protect Medicaid from threats of cuts and caps that would drastically hurt people with I/DD.

To illustrate community living, check out our new video.

On the policy front, we have to talk to state and federal legislators about the fact that the federal Medicaid law that we fought so hard to save just a few years ago needs a face lift. Right now, services in institutions, nursing homes and other more segregated settings are mandatory while home and community-based services (HCBS) are optional under the law.

These are complex issues, but the basic fact remains everybody benefits when people with disabilities are part of the fabric of their communities. That doesn’t come by keeping people locked away in institutions – it comes through conversation, inclusion and acceptance that we are all better together.

A conference attendee smiles from his seat, wearing a purple lanyard and holding a rubix cube.

About Us

/in /by
A father and son touch foreheads and smile at each other, with a green field in the background

Our Mission & Values

/in /by
Woman wearing black jacket, a black shirt with purple sunglasses hung on it, and a black and white hat that says "The Arc". She is pulling the hat down over her face and smiling.

Our Position Statements

/in /by
A woman smiles in front of a storefront window, wearing a yellow shirt, turquoise necklace, and a ponytail

Perseverance in Planning: The Value of Building an Inclusive Volunteerism Program

/in , , /by

Building an inclusive volunteering community can be stressful, but it is often incredibly rewarding as well! This year, we asked Erica Delma from Holly Ridge Center to share her journey as a grantee of The Arc’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service project through a letter to herself. She spoke about finding meaningful work for her clients, the partnerships that blossomed because of volunteering, and the spirit of helping others that has lasted long after the events are over.

Dear 2018 Erica,

I know that the last few months since you applied for the MLK grant have been a roller coaster of emotions. As Development Director of Holly Ridge Center, you are responsible for attracting, growing, and stewarding resources to further the important work the Center does in our community. When the opportunity presented itself to apply for funding to develop inclusive volunteer programs, you thought it was a great match for the Center’s focus on inclusivity and finding people with autism meaningful places in the community. When you realized the focus would be on addressing food insecurity, an issue that you have been passionate about for years, you could not have imagined a better fit. And, one day you got the notice – you got the grant!

I want you know that you are joining a group of people and organizations throughout the country who are equally passionate. And, I want you to know that The Arc staff will be there to help you every day to be successful and navigate challenges.

You will get an opportunity to work with multiple community partners that will blossom into deeper relationships. You will add in even more partnerships with Meals on Wheels, the Kitsap Rescue Mission, and other service organizations.

On MLK Day, you will host a very successful volunteer fair at the Marvin Williams Center. Many people will tell you how eager they are to work with you in the future. The volunteers you support will have more opportunities in the community, and they will be eager and excited to do more and help others.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and energy for connecting the dots to promote inclusivity, volunteerism, the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and addressing food insecurity. There will be work nights and even longer days, but all your hard work will pay off!

Sincerely,
2019 Erica

Close up of open textbook

Access Resources

/in /by
Screenshot of the HealthMatters Program website homepage

Learn About HealthMatters

/in /by