Podcast Episode 27. Feeling like you belong to a community and being accepted for who you are is important to all of us. This week we talk to James Cuming, Community Leader, at L’Arche Kent who explains how L’Arche provides both of these for people all over the world, some who have additional needs. James explains the history of L’Arche and how its beginnings drive the mission of creating communities which bring different people together.
James explains how L’Arche provides housing and purpose in a purposeful and community-driven way. This helps ensure that everyone including those with additional needs gets much more than simply a place to live and a place to go each day.
James also shares his views on the language we use when we talk about people with additional needs. He questions why we talk about reviews when we mean appraisals and activities when we really mean hobbies.
Finally, James shares his vision for a project close to his heart the Archangel Brewery. This project, while still in its infancy, could create a business model which James hopes can be replicated so that people with additional needs can truly control their own futures. His vision is that the Archangel brewery will be controlled from boardroom to brewery by people with additional needs and they will make all the decisions about their business and their future.
The L’Arche ethos is so powerful that it should become the norm not the exception when we think of how we plan the future housing and work options for young people with additional needs.
Key Takeaway’s
Community is an essential part of living a fulfilled life
The words we use we do matter and we shouldn’t be using different terms for the same thing for different groups of people