Bubble of the Month at L’Arche!

It’s a brand new year! It is at this time when we think about a fresh start and making goals for 2016. We’ve had a busy holiday season and looking to continue with growing in our outreach to the broader Hamilton community, while also staying true to our L’Arche community and founding story. At L’Arche Hamilton, we are a community that welcomes people with and without intellectual disabilities to share life together in one of our five homes, in our Day Program and Art Studio space, and in the broader Hamilton community. L’Arche was founded in 1964 by Jean Vanier in France and has since grown to over 140 communities all over the world.

Each month, we publish a newsletter which features our “Bubble of the Month” highlighting one of the key elements of our Identity and Mission, giving us ideas of how to bring them to life and live them in practical ways. We are quite intentional in our efforts to live out these key elements and also reflect on them within the community. January’s Bubble of the Month theme is “Shape a More Human Society.” Throughout the month, we will be discussing ways in which we can live this out in our day to day lives, while also reaching out and inspiring others to do the same. In L’Arche, we find joy in simple things such as our day to day chores, activities, and relationships and we invite others to live and find joy while they shape a more human society in their own way. It could look like sharing about L’Arche to high school students, being a good neighbour by making friends, helping with gardening, or giving back to the community through volunteering. As an Assistant in L’Arche, I find that core members (individuals in L’Arche with an intellectual disability) have a lot to teach us about humanity in those simple things and it is a gift that core members who live, work, and volunteer in the community not only shape a more human society in the work they are doing, but in how they interact with others and the community they build. We invite you to “Shape a More Human Society” in the ways you interact with your community. We invite you to explore and get to know us. If you are interested in becoming a Community Friend with a core member, you might be surprised (as I initially was) about how much core members teach us and invite us to shape a more human society. If you are interested in volunteering, connecting with our community or other community relations opportunities, please contact Paige at (905) 312-0162 X224 or paige@larchehamilton.org.

“I shape a more human society by volunteering. I like volunteering because I like helping people and the people I help make me happy” –Janice M. (Core Member of L’Arche Hamilton)