About Us
Mission
“Achieving full community life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — one person at a time”
Full community life means allowing individuals to express their choices and have confidence that others will honor those choices; ensuring that those we support are able to choose how and with whom they spend their time, and are able to work at a challenging and rewarding job.
Guiding Principles
- The Arc of Howard County commits to a person centered approach so that each person we support can access optimal opportunities to achieve their goals.
- The Arc of Howard County commits to providing community based experiences so that people we support can benefit from full integration and live enviable lives at home, at work and at play.
- The Arc of Howard County commits to providing the necessary supports for people seeking employment, day habilitation, residential, retirement and respite services.
- The Arc of Howard County commits to providing the appropriate training and support of staff so they can administer the optimum support to people with disabilities.
The Arc of Howard County’s Programs and Services include:
- Employment
- Family and Individual Support
- Respite Care
- Residential
- Community Integration Program (Day Program)
- Supported Retirement
- Project SEARCH
Growing to Meet Needs
The organization began in 1961 as a volunteer parent support group and now touches the lives of more than 400 people. The Arc is the oldest and largest non-profit organization in Howard County that provides services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. From our experienced professional staff to our skilled job coaches and dedicated residential counselors, The Arc is people helping people in the most fundamental ways. Today, we have over 300 staff members and hundreds of volunteers. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed – we still provide individual services from one person to another.
