Growing up together
A partnership of more than thirty-five years, the dream we set out with, and how this grant carried Porticus’s mission into the world.
01 · We grew up together
Porticus has walked with L’Arche for more than thirty-five years.
Porticus and L’Arche’s relationship began in the late 1980s. Over the decades Porticus has supported L’Arche through its North American, UK, French, German and International offices, and at all three levels of L’Arche: local, national and international.
Porticus has been one of L’Arche’s strongest partners in the mission.
L’Arche would not be where it is today without this partnership, not in Canada, not in the UK or in the USA, not at the International level, and not in many of our local sites.
L’Arche’s application to Porticus, 2017
35+
years of partnership, since the late 1980s
2
major capacity-building grants: 2018–2020 and 2021–2026
€2M
committed through grant GR-074972
3
levels of L’Arche supported: local, national, international
The family behind the grants
[Paragraph: how the family came to know L’Arche, what they saw in communities, and why they were moved to propose two unusually large grants to Porticus.]
[Paragraph: a memory or moment that captures the relationship with the family, and what their trust has meant to L’Arche.]
Three chapters of partnership
In 2010 Porticus funded a McKinsey & Company assessment of L’Arche International’s structures, resources and leadership. L’Arche formally adopted it in 2012. It affirmed the relevance of L’Arche’s mission and recommended five levers to strengthen the international role.
In 2017 L’Arche asked Porticus to help finish that work. The three-year grant that followed (2018–2020) built leadership and management capacity and developed quality, fundraising, communications and public engagement, to carry L’Arche from the era of its founder into a mission-driven era.
In 2021 a second grant, “Building long-term sustainability for L’Arche” (GR-074972), committed €2,000,000 to two outcomes: better data, evaluation and learning, and a fundraising infrastructure to sustain the mission. It began on 1 September 2021 and, after two extensions, closes on 31 December 2026.
- Late 1980s — Porticus and L’Arche begin working together.
- 2010–2012 — Porticus funds the McKinsey assessment of L’Arche International; L’Arche adopts its recommendations.
- 2018–2020 — First capacity-building grant: leadership, quality, fundraising, communications and public engagement.
- 2019–2020 — The founder’s death, the inquiry into the conduct of Jean Vanier and Fr Thomas Philippe, and the pandemic test L’Arche’s leadership.
- 1 Sept 2021 — Grant GR-074972 begins.
- 2023 — The study commission reports on Jean Vanier; the Federation Assembly meets online.
- Sept 2024 — The Federation Assembly approves a two-year plan for shared leadership of the Federation.
- 2026 — Governance review and a vote on a new constitution. The grant closes on 31 December.
Where this page comes from
- L’Arche applications to Porticus (August 2017 and June 2021)
- History of Relationship (Year 5 content folder)
- Year 3 (Sept 2024) and Year 4 (2025) reports on GR-074972
02 · The dream we shared
The dream we started with
Across two applications, the dream moved from ambition to foundations: first to grow up as a global organisation, then to build the agreements, data and funding that let a federation hold together after its founder.
2017: growing up as a global organisation
After fifty years of decentralised growth, L’Arche wanted to make what it called the most significant transition in its history. It hoped to become “a mature and sustainable international organization that is a public model, an effective educator, and a trusted convener,” and to help change how the world sees people with intellectual disabilities: “from objects of pity to fellow citizens with intrinsic value.”
- Stronger leadership and management, including a new International Charter.
- Consistent quality of community and care in every country, with a first monitoring and evaluation function and standard safeguarding training.
- A joined-up “One L’Arche” approach to fundraising.
- A new capacity for advocacy and public education.
The application was candid about its own history too: “We have been idealistic, sometimes over enthusiastic, and certainly non-strategic about how L’Arche has grown in the developing world.”
2021: finishing the chapter, on firmer ground
By 2021 L’Arche had lived through what it called “arguably the most challenging 3-year period in its history”: the death of its founder, the inquiry, and the pandemic. It wrote that the earlier work “is not yet finished,” and that the crises had “galvanized L’Arche’s leadership, and allowed them to take authority in a new way.”
L’Arche must develop new federation leadership ‘muscle’; capacity and skills to maintain the healthy functioning of the Federation.
L’Arche’s application to Porticus, 2021
Porticus was asked to fund two of five priorities: evaluation and learning, and financial sustainability. Other partners co-funded the rest: mission-led leadership, quality of care and community, and public engagement. People with intellectual disabilities were to be “co-leaders and co-learners” throughout.
What we promised, and where it stands
The 2021 application set clear goals. This is a first, honest reading of where each one stands, drawn from the annual reports.
| What we promised in 2021 | Status | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| A common set of metrics across the Federation | Done | Common profile data gathered from all 184 communities and emerging sites in 37 countries (2025). |
| A CRM for Federation data | Done | FreeAgent CRM in use since 2021, with six applications including safeguarding, community profiles and financial aid. |
| A functional Evaluation and Learning team | Done | A director and two part-time CRM administrators, supporting assessments, audits and a major formation evaluation. |
| Formal assessments of all single communities and middle countries by 2023 | Partly | 35 of 65 completed an assessment in 2024–25. The target is now 75% by the end of 2026. |
| Regular review of membership agreements | Delayed | Waiting for the new constitution, to be voted on in 2026. |
| A first-ever global fundraising campaign, launched in 2023 | Changed course | Became a joint multi-level donor strategy and a Global Case for Support, built together in 2025. |
| An inclusive fundraising methodology | Partly | Core members now represent L’Arche at the UN and other forums; a written methodology is to confirm. |
| 5–10 single communities with strategic development plans | Done | 12 single or middle-country communities created or carried out action plans (2024–25). |
To confirm: Status readings are a first draft based on the Year 3 and Year 4 reports. To confirm with the team before sending.
Where this page comes from
- L’Arche applications to Porticus (2017, 2021) and the 2017 logic model
- Year 3 report (Sept 2024) and Year 4 report draft for review (2025)
- Summary: “Hopes and dreams in L’Arche’s Porticus applications” (project notes)
03 · The mission, lived
How the grant carried Porticus’s mission into the world
Five themes run through everything this grant made possible. Each is told in more depth in the chapters that follow.
Belonging
Relationships across difference as an answer to loneliness, from 184 communities to L’Arche Greater Washington, D.C.’s Emmy-winning film On Loneliness.
Education
Inclusion training for more than 400 students in Honduras, youth and family programmes in Egypt, Ivory Coast and Kenya, and EU projects led with young people with intellectual disabilities.
Housing
Around 500 residences in 37 countries offer lasting homes of belonging. In Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, communities opened their doors to refugees with disabilities.
Capacity building
Family outreach in four African communities, social entrepreneurship in four countries, and entrepreneurship training for more than 100 women and young people in Honduras.
Safeguarding
Two Federation-wide safeguarding evaluations, trauma-informed training for leaders, and a Safeguarding Officer at L’Arche International since September 2025.
[Optional paragraph: connect these themes to Porticus’s own priorities, in Porticus’s words, and say what it has meant to share them.]
Where this page comes from
- Report outline (September 2026)
- L’Arche one-pagers 2026 (Honduras, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ukraine)
- Year 4 report draft (2025); L’Arche Greater Washington, D.C. website