Our Mission
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Make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, revealed through mutually transforming relationships.
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Foster an environment in community that responds to the changing needs of our members.
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Engage in our diverse cultures, working together toward a more human society.
At L’Arche Portland, we address the need to belong by building deep, meaningful relationships between people with and without intellectual disabilities.
We build appreciation for values of interdependence, mutual trust, and belonging by sharing simple daily routines and meals, coming together in prayer, reflection, and celebration, going on retreats and vacations together, and actively participating in our local communities.
Who are we?
L’Arche Portland was founded in 1987 and has grown and changed over the years. Our homes in SE Portland and Beaverton are at the center of our story and our community. We gather around our homes as a community of individuals with and without intellectual disabilities finding belonging and relationship.
Neahkahnie House
“Neahkahnie” means “place of the creator” in the language of the Tillamook people along the Oregon coast. In the early 1990’s, the community worked with a skilled architect to design a home in the Montavilla neighborhood that would be especially suited to our community.
Neahkahnie House was completed in 1995 and has held much community life since! The house is currently home to 5 core members (people with intellectual disabilities) and is licensed as a “group home,” where Assistants (caregivers), friends, and volunteers share life for periods of time.
Gabriel House
Gabriel House was founded in 2019 and is named for beloved core member Rodney Gabriel, who passed away the year prior. Gabriel House is located on the west side of town in Beaverton, and is home to seven residents with and without intellectual disabilities.
Gabriel House offers flexibility in living arrangements to meet various needs. This model is different from our longer-standing Neahkahnie House, because L’Arche Portland does not provide professional support to Gabriel House members.
Rather, the decision to live at Gabriel House is primarily about living with others as housemates and friends. And those who need professional services may hire their own service providers.
Public Community Events
Our community has always invited friends to gather in our living rooms and backyards – and as we’ve grown, we’ve come to realize that we’re sometimes too big for a living room! So while we still hold some public community events at our homes, we also gather at locations like parks, schools, and faith communities.
In 2019, L’Arche Portland took on a long-standing event series at University of Portland, called REX, which is now called L’Arche@UP. This is a gathering of university students, adults with intellectual disabilities in the Portland metro area, and other friends.
Our gatherings are typically focused on food, spirituality, holidays, or volunteering together!
Our Network
L’Arche Portland is accountable to the high standards of L’Arche USA and L’Arche International.
L’Arche Portland is a part of L’Arche USA which is a part of L’Arche International. L’Arche communities in the United States provide homes and workplaces where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together as peers; create inclusive communities of faith and friendship; and transform society through relationships that cross social boundaries.
L’Arche is a world-wide social movement, bringing individuals with a disabilities into the hearts of their societies, making their voice heard, providing a true home and the opportunity to develop their unique gifts to the fullest. Today, there are 159 communities of L’Arche in 38 countries. They are united by a common vision and a shared mission expressed in the official Charter of L’Arche.
The Federation seeks to foster solidarity among communities, ensure unity in diversity, establish the conditions for membership, and to create conditions for trust, service, dialogue, and mutual support.
