By Tatum Tricarico, Disability and Theology Intern
Over the past two years, it has been amazing to notice how much L’Arche NC has impacted me and those in my circles. One of my favorite parts has been how much this community has expanded my understanding of accessibility and leadership.
My work at L’Arche NC has inspired me countless times to be more creative in the ways I plan and offer accessibility. During my first few months serving with L’Arche NC, I was encouraged to include something that was an embodied practice for each program or event I planned. This could be a creative or expressive activity like drawing, or a meditative practice with movement for those who find being still more difficult. The purpose of such was to create different ways for people attending to participate in the community gathering. I noticed as we lived this out at events that not only was it more accessible, but it was also more engaging, and people felt much more connected. For example, when we were painting or writing, people were invited to show off their creative side in ways they never would have if we had just been talking to one another. When we offered a movement meditative practice during a reflection, people felt connected to themselves and the space. When we read poetry and looked at images (or heard image descriptions), people were able to view and understand the topic in new ways.
The other day, I was sharing this inclusive way of planning in my Duke Divinity Field Education Reflection Group. This reflection group has a mix of people who have internships in a wide variety of contexts. One of my peers is working at a women’s prison in Raleigh. After sharing about L’Arche NC and inclusion, my classmate pulled me aside the next week and told me how my reflection impacted her work.
She shared with me that she was tasked with writing theological reflections for prisoners in solitary confinement who could not come to group events. They would pass these reflections out ever so often to give those who are isolated a connection to their faith community. She told me that since hearing about the ways that we added embodied and interactive pieces to our events, she also started adding those same types of things to the reflections for the prisoners. Especially for those who are confined away from any human interaction, these sorts of connections with their spirituality, their bodies, and their creative sides (to the extent they can), will be incredibly meaningful. It will help them to be more centered, grounded, and connected when they are cut off from so much. This was an incredible moment for me to realize how far the work of L’Arche NC and Disability justice could reach. The impact of L’Arche goes farther than just our gatherings of friends with and without I/DD but extends to other communities near and far.
