MERIDEN – Today, State Senator Mary Daugherty Abrams (D- Meriden, Middlefield, Rockfall, Middletown, Cheshire) toured Midstate Arc to discuss services and support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Connecticut. Midstate Arc is part of The Arc Connecticut, the state’s oldest grassroots family advocacy organization for individuals with disabilities, which protects the rights of individuals with these disabilities and promotes opportunities for their full inclusion and support by their local community. In Connecticut, Arc has 14 service providers employing and supporting an estimated 11,500 people with disabilities and their families.
“I would like to thank The Arc Connecticut for inviting me to visit their operations and showing me the extent of their important work in the local and statewide community,” said Sen. Abrams. “The Arc’s residential services, employment and volunteer programs, and children’s programs help offer individuals with disabilities opportunities for greater independence, allowing them to live more fulfilling lives while preparing for the future. Through the use of innovative new technologies, Arc ensures that individuals with disabilities can develop new skills and relationships. I will remember the people I met today and their stories, and strive to support them through my work at the State Capitol.”
The Arc Connecticut, founded in the early 1950s, works to support the mission and vision of people with disabilities and their families, serving to provide support programs at a time when such programs otherwise didn’t exist. For more than 60 years, the organization has fought to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, providing family advocacy support, assistance with education and employment, and reinforcing that these individuals are defined by their own selves, not their disabilities.