Arc Expands Role With New Resource Center

A new Spokane resource center for people with developmental disabilities opened this week.

The ARC Community Center, 115 E. Indiana, offers the mentally disabled a social and educational hub, offering classes on literacy, the arts and personal and money management, said center manager Connie Birdtail.

It replaces People’s Place, a more limited social center also run by ARC of Spokane.

Birdtail plans to expand the education offerings and to keep the social calendar stocked. Activities such as karate classes and neighborhood clean-ups are planned, she said.

Without a community center, social interactions of the developmentally disabled are often limited to group homes, she said.

At the center, they can take classes on personal grooming and “self-empowerment.”

“We’re trying to treat them as individuals, that they’re wonderful and deserve to be treated as such,” Birdtail said.

Funding comes from United Way and client fees. About 90 people - whose disabilities range from Down syndrome to multiple personality disorder - use the center, she says.

Call 327-5616 for more information. , DataTimes