After years of waiting, The Arc Mid-South’s summer camp was finally back! The first post-COVID camp was a reunion that brought together people who hadn't seen each other in years. Four beautiful and sunny days at St. Columba in Bartlett, where 14 campers with disabilities and their siblings got to live it up. 

No therapy, no IEP meetings, just pure joy and friendship, and remembering what community truly feels like. 

Check out the photo gallery to see some of our campers and camp staff cooking together, cooling with the water hose, hiking, and making art. It was messy, sticky, glorious, and exactly what everyone needed!

Join us on October 25 to celebrate 75 years of disability rights advocacy and community power in the Mid-South. This gala marks a historic milestone that began in 1950 when our founding parents fought for the fundamental right of children with disabilities to a meaningful education.

This is our signature event and one that our whole community looks forward to each year. The evening will honor the hard-won progress we've made together and strengthen our ability to continue fighting for and representing our friends and family with disabilities.

When: Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 5:30 PM

Where: The Great Hall & Conference Center, 1900 S. Germantown Rd, Germantown, TN

Registration: Tickets are now on sale: $75 for individual tickets | $700 for a table of 10

We are also accepting sponsorships, booklet ads, and auction item gifts.

For tickets and more information, please visit:

thearcmidsouth.org/annual-gala2025

For families in the Mid-South, the fight for disability rights is a daily reality. It’s in every IEP meeting and every call for a crisis response team. Now, that fight has a new front. A new federal law has been signed that makes massive cuts to the programs that are the foundation of life in the community for people with disabilities.

The law cuts nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid. These are not abstract numbers. These cuts will put enormous pressure on Tennessee’s budget, threatening the home and community-based services (HCBS) that keep our loved ones out of institutions. They will strain a direct support professional (DSP) workforce that is already in crisis.

The law also creates new administrative burdens. It requires people on Medicaid to prove their eligibility every 6 months instead of once a year and imposes strict new work requirements. While people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are supposed to be exempt, we know that new red tape can cause people to lose their life-saving coverage because of paperwork errors and bureaucratic mix-ups. This will also impact the many family caregivers who rely on Medicaid for their own health coverage.

The changes don’t stop at healthcare. The law:

X- Makes the largest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history, threatening the food security of millions, including 4 million households that include a person with a disability.

X- Creates the first-ever federal school voucher program. The final bill removed language that protected students with disabilities from discrimination, undermining the rights guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that we fight to enforce every day.

As Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, said, “These cuts are devastating, and we won’t be silent while our community is pushed past the brink.”

The Arc Mid-South is working closely with our state and national partners to fight these changes. We are analyzing the law to understand every impact it will have here in the Mid-South, and we are preparing to help families navigate the difficult road ahead.

Can you imagine calling the police because your loved one is having a mental health crisis, and nine days later they're dead in police custody?

Rockez McDaniel needed medical help. The police were called because he was having a mental health crisis. Instead of taking him to Alliance Healthcare's crisis center, they arrested him. Instead of treatment, he got a jail cell. Nine days later, he was dead.

The Arc Mid-South knows what works. We helped Germantown Police launch their Special Needs Safety Information program this summer. Families can register their loved ones' disabilities so officers know before they respond. As our director Carlene Leaper explained, when officers understand someone's disability ahead of time, they can de-escalate. They can accommodate. They don't mistake autism for aggression or a mental health crisis for criminal behavior.

Memphis has everything Germantown has and more. Memphis invented Crisis Intervention Teams. Memphis has Alliance Healthcare's crisis center. Memphis has trained officers who are supposed to know how to handle mental health calls.

But when Rockez McDaniel's family needed help, none of that mattered. He went to jail instead of the hospital. And now he's dead.

This is exactly what our families fear. That their loved one will have a crisis and instead of getting help, they'll get arrested. That someone who can't communicate their needs or advocate for themselves will end up trapped in a system that kills.

The Arc was at the press conference on August 1 because this is our fight. We work with police departments to build better responses. We stand with families when those better responses don't happen.

Your support makes both possible.

Know your options:

✔︎ The Arc Mid-South for crisis responses and advocacy: 901-327-2473

✔︎ Alliance Healthcare Crisis Line: 901-577-9400

✔︎ You can request CIT-trained officers when calling 911

✔︎ Contact your County Commissioner about implementing better crisis responses.

The difference between Germantown's approach and what happened to Rockez McDaniel is the difference between life and death. That's why The Arc Mid-South won't stop pushing for better.

We're collecting items for our 75th anniversary gala auction on October 25.

Last year, 150+ Memphis businesses helped us raise $19,000.

This year, we need your help to reach our goal of $30,000.

What we need: Gift certificates, experiences, services, merchandise, vacation packages

Deadline: September 15 (August 22 for early recognition)

How to give: Email events@thearcmidsouth.org with your item description and value

Every gift is tax-deductible and directly supports our programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.