The Arc of Southwest Colorado

Background Statement

The Arc of Southwest Colorado is one of 13 chapters of The Arc of Colorado. The Arc of Colorado had maintained a long-standing strategic goal to extend The Arc presence in areas of the State not served by local chapters. Southwest Colorado was an area of the State that was underserved and where the needs of families and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities were growing exponentially. Through that need, three families got together in March of 2014 to discuss how they might organize an Arc chapter in Southwest Colorado. With the help of The Arc of Mesa County and The Arc of Colorado, the Arc of Southwest Colorado was incorporated and received their 501(c)(3) status in November of 2014. The Arc of Colorado issued a resolution in March of 2015 recognizing that The Arc of Southwest Colorado had met their membership requirements established by the affiliation terms of The Arc US and designated us as a chapter of The Arc empowered to support and advocate for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the State of Colorado.

Having passed all of the organizational hurdles, the Board, consisting of the three founding families, began to formulate a strategic plan and financial plan to execute on their desire to serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Southwest Colorado. The Board was able to create a budget and organizational platform sufficient to hire their first employee, a child advocate, in August of 2015. Upon completion of the 2016 school year the organization achieved a level of financial security to hire and Executive Director who would also act/serve as a child advocate. With this hire the Arc of Southwest Colorado was able to expand their reach with both direct and indirect advocacy reaching an even larger population in Southwest Colorado.