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Katie's Corner:
A Note from Our Executive Director
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What a wonderful evening we shared at our Springing Forward Together open house on May 9th! The event was a heartfelt celebration of community, inclusion, and possibility. We’re so grateful to everyone who attended and to our incredible sponsors for making the night so memorable. Your support fuels our mission and reminds us how strong we are—together.
We’re already looking ahead to our next big event—our annual Chip in For Change Golf Tournament on September 12th! We’re working hard to ensure a fantastic turnout, and we can’t wait to spend a day of fun and fundraising with so many of you.
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While we celebrate these moments, our advocacy work continues. We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting Medicaid and services for people with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities, ensuring that essential supports for people with IDD are never compromised.
Here’s to a summer filled with joy, inclusion, and meaningful progress!
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We Sprang Forward Together!
Our recent Open House was nothing short of inspiring. It was a meaningful evening that brought our community together in such a powerful way! The rain stopped, and the sun came out in the nick of time! We had music by One Third Wish and Sunny Cefaratti. The performance by New Horizons musical theatre group was pure joy to witness, and we couldn't be more grateful that that all of our musicians agreed to come! Food trucks, Bull on the Loose and Retro Grill, provided amazing food and great service, while Wild Imagination Baking, featured delicious desserts by Ian Winters, ending the night sweetly! Beautiful floral centerpieces were created by people supported in our Meaningful Day Program, and potted plants with affirmation plaques were donated by HCPSS Transition Services. Our Silent Giving brought about additional support for our Household, Tech and Gift Card Funds. We'd like to give a huge thank you to The Shrine of St. Anthony, who provided a place for our guests to park, partnered with our shuttle team, and even had volunteers from the Knights of Columbus man the parking field.
The Arc team was thrilled with the turnout, and we can't wait to do it again! Our message that evening was that "it takes a village." It truly does. We can't do our work with the help of community support, advocacy and the philanthropy of our wonderful village!
| | | | We featured some of our gifted artists at our open house event. There's some serious talent at The Arc, and one of the silent giving funds was for art supplies. We are committed to fostering the creativity of the people we support and with the help of community partners like Columbia Association, we are hopeful to find a way to celebrate our artists and display their work. Here is Tonya, showcasing a self portrait! | | | Scan the QR code below to vote on your favorite sticker design, and tell us what businesses and organizations you'd like to display these stickers! | | We've been partnering with Leadership Essentials Howard County (LHC) on a Community Impact Project where program participants work together in small teams with a host organization (that's us!) to address an organizational challenge or strategic issue. This mutually beneficial experience results in the The Arc receiving expertise and advice, and program participants gaining a better understanding of The Arc as well as a deeper appreciation of community’s needs. We pitched our idea of a Safe Space Sticker for people with disabilities. What this means is that participating businesses and organizations in Howard County can display a sticker that tells people with I/DD that a space is safe. It tells them that the people inside have accepted the responsibility that comes with displaying the sticker and reflects a promise that their spaces are accessible, inclusive, and that all who enter will be treated with dignity and kindness. The cohort of LHC has been busy doing the beginning leg work of this project from sticker design, to QR code information and resources, to reaching out to community partners, to developing high level training for sticker participants. We welcomed them to The Arc to make their final presentation to The Arc leadership and staff as well as people supported in the Day Program! We can see the potential impact this could have on our community, and are excited to take this project to completion once Leadership Howard County passes the baton! Thank you Jorge, Michael, Brooke, June, Nadia, and Paige! We wish you much success and know that your leadership will carry you to the next great thing! | | |
Nature Walk and Art Class with Columbia Association
We love it when community collaborations are successful! We were contacted by CA and brainstormed some ideas on how we could collaborate. What we came up with was a nature walk/sit at Lake Elkhorn, followed by a painting class with CA's instructors in the pavilion! What a great way to enjoy what our community has to offer. We look forward to more opportunities for art, connection and collaboration! Thanks for thinking of us, Columbia Association!
| | | Brandy recently got Basic and Health Safety Certification and Care Course Certification in order to achieve employment in Early Childhood Programs. Way to go Brandy! Your hard work paid off! | | Bhavik and Colin both have been volunteering with Community Action Council at Howard County Food Bank. It's important that they take these opportunities to volunteer in order to continue learning necessary skills needed for any job! Tonya (the artist from above) also volunteers at the Glenwood 50+ Center “Let’s Do Lunch” Program, where she sets up the dining room, preps food, serves lunch to guests, and cleans dining room and kitchen. Thank you for giving back to your community! | |
Congratulations to MACS Award Recipients!
We are proud to celebrate two outstanding team members who were recently honored as exceptional Direct Support Professionals at this year’s Maryland Association of Community Services (MACS) Awards. Congratulations to Celeste and LaShawn on this well-deserved recognition! Their dedication, compassion, and unwavering commitment to the people they support truly set them apart. Their professionalism, personal integrity, and heartfelt work ethic exemplify the very best of what it means to be a DSP—and we couldn’t be prouder to have them on our team.
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Coming Up Next
Our annual golf fund raiser, this year called Chip in for Change, will be held at Waverly Woods Golf Course on September 12th! Sponsorship opportunities can be discussed with Janine Sunday at jsunday@archoward.org.
AND....it's official. As promised, in May, our re-imagined Chocolate Ball will combine with our Celebration of Excellence and is rebranded as (drumroll) Chocolate and Cheers! Oracle will be there (yes!) There will be chocolate, and we will cheer for the recipients of our Excellence Awards!
Stay tuned for more details!
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DONATE TODAY!
Consider making a meaningful donation to The Arc of Howard County. Your contributions and support enhance our efforts to advocate for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their families.
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Membership
Look for more information on focused efforts in the coming months on increasing membership. We can’t do it alone! Think about what it would mean to become a member. Strong membership for our chapter makes our collective voice more powerful as we navigate new changes to federal and state budgets!
People served by The Arc, their family members, staff, volunteers, members of the community, local businesses and other nonprofits are all encouraged to join The Friends of The Arc. When public funding is not enough, we depend on contributions from memberships to help us continue to provide our services.
By joining our network of more than 140,000 members and 730 affiliated chapters across the country, you become connected to the largest grassroots movement to protect the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Members work together to ensure that sufficient resources are available to meet the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in every community in our nation.
Members of The Arc of Howard County automatically receive membership to The Arc Maryland and The Arc United States. Look for more information soon!
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The Arc of Howard County strives to achieve full community life for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities
-- one person at a time.
Achieve with us.
A copy of the current financial statement of The Arc of Howard County is available by writing 11735 Homewood Rd, Ellicott City, MD 21042 or by calling (410) 730-0638. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis MD 21401, (410) 974-5534.
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