The Arc Macon

The Arc Macon supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to lead meaningful and dignified lives through community integration and inclusion. Its purpose is simple to state: give people with IDD the life skills and the environment to live as independently as possible, and see them engage in and contribute to their community.

The organization began in February 1953, when Macon parents working with a psychologist at the Bibb County Child Guidance Center formed the Macon Association for Retarded Children. Public schools offered no classes for their children, so the parents started a summer program, then a class of 13 students, then a nursery school. Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, a Sunday school class and one of the first camp programs of its kind in the South followed. More than seven decades later, the same commitment to choice and community drives an agency that serves adults across Middle Georgia and has helped many people move from institutional care into homes of their own.

Day Support gives people structured help to use the resources of their own community. Plans are built person by person and can include gym memberships, cooking classes, art classes, club participation and outings to community events, with services provided in Macon-Bibb County through Georgia's Medicaid waiver. Supported Employment, offered since 1998, provides job coaching, job analysis and job development, and The Arc works with Middle Georgia employers so people can earn a paycheck, learn to budget and build toward greater independence. The Residential program offers 24-hour Community Residential Alternative homes, Community Living Supports and Host Home placements, chosen according to each person's needs and preferences.

Social life is part of the work. In partnership with the Macon-Bibb County Parks and Recreation Adaptive Program, The Arc hosts a Valentine Banquet and Dance, an October Fall Jamboree and a Christmas Banquet and Dance. Grant-funded Fitness for All, Music and Movement and Chair Yoga classes meet around the community at no charge, and everyone is welcome. Special Olympics athletes train in basketball skills, table tennis, softball and bocce, and The Arc sponsors a team at the State Masters Bowling Tournament. Each August, campers spend a Monday-to-Friday residential week at Camp ASCCA on Lake Martin in Alabama, with swimming, boating, fishing, horseback riding, a zip line and a talent show. Artists supported by The Arc exhibit and sell paintings, drawings, ceramics and jewelry at Artspace Macon in the Brighter Together showcase.

The Arc also speaks up. It works alongside the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities and other partners on disability rights and history, and in 2025 received a $200,000 grant from the Charles H. Jones Family Foundation to renovate for accessibility.

Families who want to ask about day, employment or residential services can call (478) 477-7764 or stop by 4664 Sheraton Drive. Community members can volunteer at summer camp, coach Special Olympics, tutor, teach computer or fitness skills, mentor, lend construction know-how or help at fundraising events. Membership meetings each April and October bring families together over supper for a program or the camp talent show, and the April meeting includes the Annual Awards, with nominations open to the public.