Arc Human Services dedicated to improving lives
If you ask Michael Brownlee what Arc Human Services is, his answer is simple.
“Arc Human Services is just that: we’re a services organization,” says Brownlee, who is the organization’s Communications Coordinator. “We work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental illnesses. We want to show that people with different abilities can and should be living the same life that all of us do. We want them to be living independent lives if they’re able.”
Arc provides assistance to individuals in Southwestern Pennsylvania with intellectual disabilities, autism, and mental health challenges and is this month’s recipient of the Driven By Hope Award sponsored by Washington Auto Mall.
Founded in 1952 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those they serve, Arc is now a premier provider of support for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and mental illness with a mission to help them fulfill their ambitions, protect their rights, and foster meaningful relationships at home, work, and in their communities.
With close to 800 employees and headquarters on Pike Street in Canonsburg, Arc Human Services is part of the local community.
“On the business side of things, we run several like group homes where individuals live and some of them need to be taken care of by staff,” Brownlee says. “But our goal really is to help them lead as independent lives as they’re able. That’s really our big mission.”
Community is at the heart of that and placing individuals in jobs is a big part of their community-based services. From learning to detail cars to working in restaurants, Arc trains individuals to have employable skills.
“We work with several different businesses in the area where we have a job coach that will go with our individual and they get hired by that business, paid by that business, they get a decent wage and they’re learning the skills,” Brownlee explains. “We teach a lot of that here in our headquarters as well.”
Arc has helped individuals train and work for Meals on Wheels, Washington Tourism, and local restaurants such as Chicco Baccello Coffee House, Deli and Bakery on Pike Street. “The partnership with Chicco just was very serendipitous, and they’ve been fantastic,” Brownlee says. “We have people who can train and work with them in their facility. They’re learning job skills, social skills and interpersonal skills.”
Arc also helps to operate a student transition program in several local high schools for students getting ready to graduate to help with moving on to college or training for a job.
“In our facility here, we’ve got a model apartment and we’re doing everything from cooking classes to laundry and ironing,” says Brownlee. Learning those life skills is part of transitioning into adulthood and they can learn at their own pace and set up routines so they’re able to succeed.
The Arc of Washington County is an affiliated advocacy group that assists individuals with disabilities and their families by providing resources, information and support in navigating the system to ensure they are receiving needed services.
“We’re helping families find resources,” says Brownlee, whose own daughter has Down syndrome. “When we first were coming into that world, we were totally just sort of overwhelmed by, OK, what do we need to learn? How do we get her in school? What does she need? A facility like Arc of Washington County is able to provide those supports and give you those guidelines and refer service providers.”
Something the organization is leaning into is the role technology can play in helping individuals with developmental disabilities reach greater independence. They have a lending library for adaptive technology devices so individuals can borrow and test whether they may be helpful at home. Next, they’re developing a sort of smart home with adaptive technology that can help with daily tasks.
“You could ask it to help with different things,” says Brownlee. “The world of adaptive devices has really taken off with new technologies. Our mission is to help these individuals lead as independent and fulfilling lives as we can, and we think technology is probably going to play a greater and greater role in that as we become more wired.”
For more information on Arc of Washington County’s services and opportunities to help or volunteer, visit archumanservices.org.
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- A few devices from the Arc Human Services Technology Library: speech tablet, virtual reality headset, and medication dispenser.
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- Matthew Bishop, at work at Friendship Village of South Hills with his job coach, Colby Miller, and St. Nick
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- Paul Martin moves a box of donations at his job at Goodwill in Rochester.
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- Attendees at Arc Human Services’ Together for Greatness Event, held at the Washington Wild Things stadium
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- PA Secretary of Human Services Dr. Valerie Arkoosh visits with self-advocates after touring the Arc Human Services Technology Library.