LArche Canada Foundation

LArche began in France in 1964. It was a compassionate response to the plight of people with intellectual disabilities living in grim institutions, shut away from society. LArche was a radical and dynamic way for people of different intellectual capacity, social origin, and culture to live, work, and learn together. Young people from around the world heard about LArche, and came to help. Among those early LArche assistants was a young Canadian couple, Steve and Ann Newroth. They were so transformed by their experience that they began to dream of bringing LArche home to Canada. In 1969, Steve and Ann founded LArche Daybreak, the second LArche community in the world, in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Today, there are 30 LArche communities in nine provinces across Canada. Worldwide, there are over 150 LArche communities in 38 countries on six continents. LArche has taken a leadership role in the community living movement for people with intellectual disabilities that ultimately led to the c...