THIS MAGAZINE presents ALTERNATE ROUTES

At Maison Emmanuel, people with disabilities are encouraged to focus on their abilities by working in a variety of areas: the garden, the woodworking shop, the bakery, the pottery workshop, or with the farm animals. Many of the products they create are sold, to cover some of the community's costs, but we were told that the biggest value in the work that they do is that personal sense of accomplishment that we all feel from creating something with our own two hands.

By creating a safe space for people with disabilities to share their lives with others, both l'Arche Saint John and Maison Emmanuel are effective and beneficial alternatives to institutionalization or total dependency on family forever. The sense of belonging that comes from being valued for their unique gifts is something that no institution can provide.

Both the communities we visited make an effort to treat everyone’s eccentricities as gifts, rather than problems, which creates an overwhelming sense of belonging.

We spoke with the mother of one of the members of l'Arche Saint John, who was amazed at the progress her daughter had made since moving out of the family home and into l'Arche, particularly in terms of vocabulary and social skills. One of the biggest benefits, she said, was for her daughter, to "have real friends."

After spending time at both these communities, we met Jennifer, my friend's neighbour in Sudbury, who is involved with the l'Arche communities there. Jennifer brought a lot of things into perspective.

She shared with us the story of her friend, Audrey, a 78 year old woman who had lived in an institution for 50 years before moving into a l'Arche community. Audrey had never had a birthday party. Now, with l'Arche, Audrey's birthday is a big event every year, where she delights in writing the guest list, decorating, and of course opening gifts from her friends.

We had experienced the importance of celebration while visiting the l'Arche community in Saint John. Debbie, one of the core members, happened to have a birthday party the night we dropped in. With decorations, cake, gifts, music, and a very full house, it was a lot like any other birthday party I had experienced.

It had not occurred to me that this is not something these people would be able to enjoy, were they in an institution.

"We de-humanize people when we institutionalize them," Jennifer told us.

In community, people tend to be recognized and valued on a deeper, more personal level – even if it's as simple as celebrating the day you were born.

For information about a current job opening at l'Arche Saint John, contact Daniel Kirkegaard at larchesaintjohn@nb.aibn.com. More information about the community itself can be found at http://www.larche.ca/en/communities/nb/saint_john/.

To learn more about Maison Emmanuel, and their ongoing opportunities to get involved, visit www.maisonemmanuel.org.