The Arc, Connecting You With Us

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New Year 2019

SMECO Chooses The Arc as Charity Partner

Each year, SMECO holds two major fundraisers – the 75 Bike Ride in June and the Charity Golf Outing in the fall. They then select different organizations each year to benefit from the fundraisers and other contributions received through their charitable foundation. This year, The Arc has been selected as a recipient of these funds and will receive $18,500. SMECO is an ongoing partner, frequently donating to our annual fundraising events, and we are happy to have been selected as this year’s charitable organization.

Community Grant

Wal-Mart Foundation has selected The Arc as a recipient of a $500 grant through their Community Grant program. Their foundation focuses on "Opportunity, Sustainability, and Community." We will be eligible to apply for more funding each quarter and we are happy to have Wal-Mart as a community partner.

State Grant Funding Means Construction Begins

The Arc has secured a grant for $60,000 through the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust which will enable us to continue renovations on our Long Beach residence. Renovations will include an office, roof replacement, and a new deck.

The start date for the project will be in February.

Double the Donation

The Gott Company, who owns Fastop convenience stores throughout Southern Maryland, began a program last year to collect donations in each of their stores for charitable causes. Each quarter, they select a different charitable organization to support and then provide a donation to match the amount raised through customer contributions.

The Arc has been selected for the first quarter of 2019. Collection jars will be placed at each of the following locations during this time:

Mandt Training

Recently, our Staff Development staff - Mary Atkins and John Garrett - went through extensive training to become certified Mandt training facilitators. The focus of The Mandt System is on building healthy relationships between all the stakeholders in human service settings in order to facilitate the development of an organizational culture that provides the emotional, psychological, and physical safety needed by the people we support.

Classes for our staff members have officially begun and we believe the Mandt system will be a great step towards the future of quality services.

Governor's Budget Includes 3.5% Wage Increase

If you've followed what we share each year leading up to Developmental Disabilities (DD) Day in February, you'll know that we often have to advocate for our legislators and fight to keep the 3.5% wage increase in the budget for DD providers.

This year, the governor has kept the 3.5% in the budget! This funding helps us provide raises each year our dedicated staff that work so hard to support the people we serve!

Volunteers Brighten The Arc

Our volunteers have really been brightening things up around here! We had volunteers help to bring dinner to people we support on Christmas Eve, Valentine's crafts with Wanda, and portable gardens being made by scouts. We'll have more volunteering happening with our pre-prom event (before the Night to Shine Event), kitchen organizing, and more! Know someone who would be interested in volunteering with us? Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Melissa Hartmann.