LARC (The Arc of Southwest Florida)

LARC, the Lee Association for Remarkable Citizens, empowers and supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families to achieve their full potential. As an affiliate chapter of The Arc of Florida and The Arc of the United States, it is listed nationally as The Arc of Southwest Florida. From its campus in Fort Myers, LARC serves teens and adults across Lee County and northern Collier County with vocational training, residential services and community inclusion programs that run full time, year round.

The organization began with a mother's determination. In 1953, Florida law barred children judged not to have a sound mind from public school, and Ruby Griffin began a campaign that led to the Lee County Association for Retarded Children in 1954. Its Riverside School opened that fall in borrowed Sunday school rooms, and the community later raised the money to build a school and, in 1962, a sheltered workshop at Hanson and Evans. A 1964 booklet, "Hello! Know Who I Am?", written and illustrated by Margaret DeMarco to explain that some people are different, spread from local classrooms to readers across the country. The name has since changed to Lee Association for Remarkable Citizens, and the focus has stayed on seeing ability first.

Adult Day Training is the core of the campus. ADAP/T serves individuals who need a significant level of care, with self-care, sensory, communication, motor and pre-vocational activities. The SubContract program teaches paid work through product assembly, collating and packaging for local businesses, and the Woodshop program builds grade stakes, form boards, pallets, garden trellises, picnic tables and sign posts for customers around the state. Every program adds life skills such as safety, self-advocacy, social skills and communication. Through LAB: Learn, Achieve, Become, LARC built a commercial training kitchen, and its Culinary Training Program is led by a dedicated training chef.

Community Support Services help people live and work where they choose. Supported living staff assist with medications, money management, groceries and benefits for people in their own homes; personal supports and respite give families relief; and supported employment offers job coaching and follow-along support. LARC's employment team also works directly with businesses to find the right positions and keep both employee and employer supported. Two licensed group homes, the Cape Coral Community Residence and the North Shore Community Residence in North Fort Myers, each provide a home for six residents with 24-hour supervision and training in cooking, homemaking, hygiene and budgeting.

Young people get a head start through Pre-Employment Transition Services and Career Camps for students ages 14 to 21 with an IEP or 504 plan, offered with Florida's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and built around job readiness, workplace tours, mock interviews and job shadowing. The Lori Carroll-Collins Scholarship Fund, created in 2020, helps people with IDD and limited means access LAB, transportation, virtual training and employment support.

To get started, families are encouraged to contact the Agency for Persons with Disabilities about Medicaid waiver funding, then call LARC to discuss services or schedule a tour; private pay is available for anyone without funding. Volunteers assist day activity instructors and take on grounds, administrative and group projects. Supporters can become members of The Arc, donate a vehicle, shop the wish list, or join the Shaken, Stirred & Served celebrity bartender night and the annual Exceptional Employers of Southwest Florida event, which celebrates businesses that practice inclusive hiring.