The Arc of Anchorage is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting community integration and quality of life for children and adults who experience developmental disabilities, behavioral health issues, or deafness.

The Arc of Anchorage was founded in 1957 by a small group of parents at the very beginning of a nationwide shift in how our society thinks about people with disabilities. This group of parents came together to fight for the rights of their children with disabilities. Rights like:

• The right to live at home, instead of in an institution hundreds or thousands of miles away
• The right to go to school, at a time when "free public education" did not include a person with Down syndrome or cerebral palsy or someone who was blind or deaf
• The right to be treated like a person, to be a part of the community, to be respected, to have friends, to decide what they want their life to be and to work toward those goals just like anyone else.

The Arc of Anchorage is a chapter of The Arc of the United States, a grassroots organization with more than 140,000 members who are affiliated with nearly one thousand state and local chapters across the country.

In some ways, nothing much has changed in the decades since The Arc of Anchorage was founded. We and the families we work with still have the same goals: The Arc provides services that help people with disabilities lead rich, full lives as valued, productive members of our community.

From another perspective, the changes in the last four decades are remarkable. From a few dozen parents and volunteers whose efforts were funded with bake sales and fashion shows, The Arc is now one of the hundred largest employers in the state of Alaska, with over 300 full and part-time employees serving more than 500 individuals and their families each year. We are busy making sure that the victories won by The Arc's founders and the disability advocates who followed in their footsteps are not hollow. For instance, we provide services that help ensure:

• The right to work is accompanied by an opportunity to learn work skills so people can get and keep a job.
• The right not to be institutionalized does not leave a person homeless or languishing in front of a TV all day with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
• That people who experience disabilities have the same opportunities as any American citizen to exercise their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We look forward to the day when The Arc is no longer necessary, when the idea that people with disabilities are really "just people" has been so thoroughly incorporated into the fabric of our society that the notion of paid care providers seems old-fashioned and out-of-date.

But until that time, we have a promise to keep - a promise we made nearly five decades ago. A promise to be here, ready to help, whenever a family comes knocking at our door, looking for hope and a helping hand. And to continue to be here for as long as their loved one with a disability needs us.