Help Anchor our Community of Belonging
Hello L’Arche NC Friends –
In 2011, a small group came together with a dream: to build a community where people with and without intellectual disabilities could share life, friendship, and belonging.
That dream became L’Arche North Carolina. Fourteen years later, we’ve opened our first home in Durham and continue to host vibrant gatherings across the Triangle where we witness how belonging transforms lives. Whether I’m at the house or a Together event, I see relationships forming that defy isolation.
L’Arche GWDC recently released a beautiful short film, On Loneliness, reminding us that the antidote to loneliness is friendship across differences. I can’t watch it without getting goosebumps—because it reflects what we see and experience at L’Arche NC every day.
This July, in honor of our first meeting L’Arche NC meeting, we’re inviting 20 new monthly donors—our L’Arche Anchors—to join us. We need your help and commitment to continue this work of building belonging.
Would you consider committing to giving $10 a month?
$10/month ($120/year) may seem small—but in community, small gifts multiply. Here’s what it can do:
- Provides craft materials for friends at our monthly Craft Together gathering—supporting inclusive art and expression.
- Purchases birthday or celebration supplies, helping ensure every person is honored and celebrated.
- Buys ingredients for baking days, where Core Members and volunteers connect through the joy of making something together.
Can you commit to $100 a month?
$100/month ($1,200/year) helps create spaces of belonging in big ways.
- Covers the cost of an entire Community Dinner—feeding 15–20 people and offering a warm, welcoming space where friendships grow.
- Funds accessible transportation, ensuring Core Members can access medical appointments, work, and social activities.
- Helps us welcome new Core Members, Assistants, and volunteers, providing orientation materials, training, and the intentional support needed for deep, mutual relationships to flourish.
Or, sign up for whatever monthly gift feels right to you to help L’Arche NC build a community where strangers become friends and joy is abundant.
To become a L’Arche Anchor and commit to a monthly gift, click the button below to make a donation. On the donation page, select the box, “Show my support by making this a recurring donation.”
In Community,
Laura Steed Lorino
Executive Director & Community Leader
P.S. Please take a few minutes out of your day and watch the video below from L’Arche GWDC. If you’ve never been to L’Arche or experienced the belonging we often talk about at L’Arche, you’ll see and hear it in action.
L’Arche NC receives Citizen Involvement Award
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that L'Arche NC has been honored with the 2023 Citizen Involvement Award by the Raleigh Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities! This recognition warms our hearts and reinforces the importance of our mission. At L'Arche NC, we're all about celebrating diversity, promoting inclusivity, and fostering a sense of belonging for people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. This award is not just a testament to our organization, but to the incredible individuals, volunteers, and supporters who make up the L'Arche NC Community. Your dedication and passion drive us to create a more inclusive world for everyone. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Mayor’s Committee for this acknowledgment. It fuels our passion to continue making a positive impact, fostering understanding, and embracing the diversity that makes our community so vibrant. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey. Together, we are breaking barriers and building a world where everyone is valued and included. Laura Steed Lorino, our Executive Director, and Kyla, a volunteer at L'Arche NC, accepted the award from Mayor Baldwin. read more
Renovations and Contractors
Dear Friends, I hope you are well and filled with the same sense of excitement and purpose that I have as we embark on this next phase of the L’Arche NC journey together. Today, I am reaching out to you not only as the Executive Director of L'Arche North Carolina but also as a proud supporter and believer in the incredible mission that unites us. Over the past two weeks, we have met with General Contractors and other skilled experts to discuss the necessary renovations to make this house a L’Arche home. We will need to renovate one bathroom for accessibility, create a safe egress from two bedrooms, repair outdated electrical components, and create an accessible entrance to the house. These projects, along with the regular operating costs of starting a L’Arche community, will require a great deal of resources. As someone who has been fortunate enough to witness the transformative power of L'Arche firsthand, it is both an honor and a privilege for me to personally contribute to our current fundraiser campaign. The heartwarming stories, the genuine connections, and the profound impact that L'Arche has on the read more
See Our New Home!
We're excited to share that we've purchased our first L'Arche NC Home! We closed on our first L'Arche NC house on Thursday, July 27, 2023. We are excited that this beautiful home will bring belonging and community to the Triangle.
Celebrating the ADA: Book Recommendations
During the month of July, we celebrate Disability Pride and the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26th! We celebrate this important civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. This month and always, we seek to learn and grow together. Our former Duke Divinity Intern, Tatum Tricarico, has book recommendations! Tatum says, "These books have helped me feel known, validated my experience, given me language to describe myself, and given me mentors and friends in my community. They truly have changed my life. I hope you enjoy!" Introduction to Disability Demystifying Disability, Emily Ladau Disability History Of The United States, Kim Nielsen Autobiography Being Heumann, Judith Heumann Haben, Haben Girma Year of The Tiger, Alice Wong The Pretty One, Keah Brown Exile and Pride, Eli Clare Sitting Pretty, Rebekah Taussig Anthologies Disability Visibility, Edited by Alive Wong About us, Edited by Andrew Solomon Disability Justice Care Work, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha The Future is Disabled, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Disability read more
Help Make a House a HOME: $100K in 100 Days!
Our dream is to transform a house into a loving home, a place where laughter echoes through the halls and where bonds of friendship and family are forged. With your help, we aim to raise $100,000 in just 100 days for essential renovations that will make this dream come true.
Recap: A Joyous Event Filled with Community Spirit and Celebration!
If you missed the BBQ & Bingo Event last month, you missed a fun celebration! This gathering for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, in support of L'Arche North Carolina, was an incredible event filled with joy and community spirit. The evening started with the tantalizing aroma of barbecued delights wafting through the air as volunteers served up a delectable feast for all attendees. We are grateful to Southern Harvest Catering and Knucklehead Barbecue for donating the delicious meal. Families, friends, and supporters gathered together, sharing laughter and stories, creating a warm and inclusive atmosphere. The main highlight of the event was the lively picture bingo games. Our friends, Kyla and Maggie, called out Bingo as participants of all abilities eagerly played, their eyes filled with anticipation. Prizes were won, and cheers of celebration filled the air, fostering an atmosphere of camaraderie and encouragement. Our prizes were donated by local restaurants: Namu, Alpaca Charcoal Chicken, and Trophy Brewing. This event was more than a community gathering... It was a celebration! We celebrated the program space at the Bulla Center, where we hold inclusive and accessible monthly events. One read more
Tatum’s Reflection
My year at L’Arche NC has been nothing short of wonderful! I had no idea when I agreed to be the Duke Divinity intern for L’Arche NC that I would get so many amazing opportunities to do such meaningful work and get to connect with so many lovely people along the way. One of my favorite pieces of L’Arche NC is the way that we are committed to caring for the people in our programs so well. By focusing on social, educational, and spiritual aspects of people’s lives, it truly feels like L’Arche NC is committed to being in community with the fulness of every person. I got the opportunity to engage in and lead fun social events like tie- dying t-shirts at crafternoon and going to lunches and coffee with L’Arche friends. L’Arche is committed to even more than just social gatherings though, and so I also got to lead events like a book club and a panel focusing on Disability and Employment in order to educate the community about Disability rights. As a Divinity student I was also grateful for the opportunity to serve in a read more
Rooted in Community: Recap of the Plant Sale Fundraiser
Earlier this month, we had a Plant Sale Fundraiser. With your help, we raised over $2,000 for our growing community of people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. At L'Arche, we celebrate the gifts of all persons! One of many things that I loved about the Plant Sale was that this fundraiser was possible because individuals with skills in gardening shared their gifts and resources with L'Arche NC. We are beyond grateful to Eric Hastie and Heather Bixler for providing the beautiful plants for this special fundraiser. With their generosity, 100% of plant sale funds were donated to L'Arche NC. L'Arche NC is working to establish an accessible and inclusive home in the Triangle area for people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Did you know that 70% of people with I/DD in North Carolina are in need of affordable housing? Our community will be more than just a place to live; it will be a home where meals are shared, friendships are formed, and quality care abounds. Check out this video from L'Arche GWDC to learn how L'Arche is an extraordinary community. Do you have a gift read more
