L'Arche International

In 1964, Canadian Jean Vanier, with the support of his spiritual director Father Thomas Philippe, invited two men with a developmental disability, Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux, to live with him in an old house in the French village of Trosly-Breuil. This choice changed not only his life, but those of Raphael, Philippe, and the thousands of others that have lived in L'Arche communities since then.

He named the house L'Arche after Noah's Ark and gradually welcomed not only more men and women with developmental disabilities but also the assistants who would live and work with them. Since then, L'Arche has grown into an international federation of 135 communities in 36 countries.

L'Arche put down roots in Canada way back in 1969 in a community called Daybreak, located in Toronto. The day has indeed broken and there are now 29 communities spread over the country in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Each community is composed of two to eight homes, day programs and workshops and in some cases a spiritual center. The Calgary community was founded in 1973, and includes five homes, a Day Program, a Supported Independent Living Program, and a Spiritual Center.