The Arc of Madison County, Incorporated was
established in 1952 under the name of Aid for Retarded Children.
Concerned parents needing service for their children and seeking to educate the
public about the mental retardation founded the program. Eventually, the Agency
became known through the Huntsville/Madison County area as the Opportunity
Center because it provided education, job-skills training, and supportive
services for individuals with mental retardation, thus giving them an
"opportunity" to succeed in life. The Agency was later referred to as the
Association for Retarded Citizens. In 1992, the Agency officially changed its
name to the current form -- The Arc of Madison County, Incorporated.
The Arc of Madison County, a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency,
provides services for individuals of all ages who have mental retardation and/or
developmentally delayed. Currently, The Arc provides educational and supportive
services to 176
adults at the Opportunity Center. In addition, the Agency provides life skills
training and job support and supervision for some individuals within the
community. During the past year, The Arc has seen an increase in the number of
young adults and older individuals needing and requesting services. The number
and kinds of services offered by The Arc are ever-expanding to meet the
special needs of these individuals and their families.
Services to infants and
toddlers, ages 0-3 years, include physical and developmental evaluation and
stimulation programs to ensure these children the best start in life as
possible. This program includes parent education and training to enable parents
to understand the needs and limitations of their children. During the past
several years, the infant toddler program has increased the number it serves to
40 babies.
The Arc of Madison County also provides a multitude of services to adults with
mental retardation. These services include a comprehensive training program that
concentrates on maintaining and improving their daily living and independent
life (self-help) skills. In addition, these adults participate in a
work-training program that focuses on job-related skills and work adjustment, and
a job placement program that offers on-site support and supervision as need.
Finally, clients enjoy a leisure/recreation program that encourages social
stimulation and development.
Since August 1994, The Arc of Madison County has successfully trained and placed
many individuals into innovative work crews, called enclaves, at local industrial
facilities. Through the success of this program,
the business community at large has come to recognize the value of these
individuals as productive citizens. The Arc of Madison County has been awarded the
State of Alabama Arc Innovative Service Award for creative and original program
development for the job placement/community employment program.
Since
1998, The Arc of Madison County has maintained two residential group homes.
Supported in part by the Civitans, these homes encourage family-type
environments for five adult women in one home and three adult men in the other
home. Both homes offer 24-hour care, supervision, and supportive services. These
adults take great pride in their "independent" life-styles as they assist in
household chores such as cleaning their rooms, washing dishes, helping to
prepare meals and cleaning up after meals. They also learn self-care skills such
as bathing, good grooming and personal hygiene. As with many families, these
adults enjoy the social outings of the program such as dining in a restaurant,
shopping for groceries, watching a movie, or going to the swimming pool. For
many of these adults who have never lived apart from their families/parents
before, this supportive program offers them a sense of independence and
self-sufficiency. We are now up to seven homes.
The Arc of Madison County has recycled aluminum cans for
approximately 15 years. Program participants were trained to clean, crush, and
package the cans to take to the recycling center. In 1997, The Arc expanded and
developed the recycle program into a more practical and effective job-training
project to better meet the needs of the community. The expanded program enabled
more adult clients to receive job-skills training and actual employment.
Initially, the program established fifteen area businesses as collection sites
and expanded the kinds of materials collected for recycling to include not only
aluminum cans but also copier and computer paper, and newspapers. Within the
first program year, The Arc received requests from sixteen additional
organizations seeking to become collection sites. The Arc expanded the program
to serve those new sites and now serves a total of 111 sites, including several Huntsville City Schools.
In conclusion, a
non-profit organization, The Arc of Madison County is governed by a 22 member,
all volunteer, Board of Directors. Board members are selected from throughout
the community and represent the professional diversity of the area. They are
also selected based in part upon their interest and commitment to the clients
needs and concerns. In addition, the Board includes one consumer with a physical
disability to serve for a three-year period with a staggered rotation.
The Arc of Madison County utilizes community volunteers whenever possible.
Volunteers are selected based upon their genuine concern for the well being of
the clients' and their families, and show strong commitment and (time)
availability to the programs. All volunteers are screened for past criminal and
child abuse involvement and are required to sign a confidentiality statement.
Training for volunteers includes all aspects of the program with which they are
going to work.