Built to last, together
Strong infrastructure and streamlined operations to support L’Arche communities.
01 · The honest picture
For the first time, L’Arche can see the whole Federation.
When this grant began, L’Arche knew itself mostly through stories. Today it also has the data: a profile of every community, regular assessments of community health, and one system that holds it all.
What has changed since
L’Arche International now runs one data system, FreeAgent CRM, with six applications: safeguarding data, community profiles, financial aid, major donors, human resources and distribution lists, linked to the accounting software. In 2025 it gathered a common profile from all 184 communities and emerging sites in 37 countries. That count found more than 17,000 people at the heart of L’Arche, up from an earlier estimate of 12,000.
What were our successes
35 of the 65 single and middle-country communities completed a community assessment in 2024–25, and many turned it into an action plan. Twelve communities created or carried out action plans linked to a strategic plan, more than the goal of five to ten. A second Federation-wide safeguarding evaluation gathered data from every community.
What were the challenges
Progress was slower than hoped. Assessments were paused in September 2023 because communities were also completing the safeguarding evaluation. The review of membership agreements is waiting for the new constitution. Key documents often lived on personal computers, and years of formation data had never been collected. For much of the grant, L’Arche worked without International Leaders in place.
What did we learn
A tool only works if it fits the community. L’Arche Switzerland’s national leader asked communities to place stones and diamonds on pictures to show their strengths and gaps, so people with and without disabilities could take part. The formation evaluation showed that the international team serves best as a convenor that equips others. And lasting change in a federation this large and diverse takes time.
How is L’Arche better positioned
Leaders can now see a snapshot of community health, including safeguarding. Action plans make communities ready to invite funders: after its assessment, L’Arche Choluteca won a $10,000 grant from UNHCR. A Safeguarding Officer joined in September 2025, and the governance review aims for stronger representation of communities, more participation by people with intellectual disabilities and better accountability.
| Measure | Progress | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Communities with a common profile (2025) | 184 of 184 (100%) | |
| Single and middle-country communities with a completed assessment (2024–25) | 35 of 65 (54%) | Target: 75% by end of 2026 |
For such a large and diverse Federation, creating long-lasting organizational change takes time.
L’Arche’s Year 4 report to Porticus, 2025
Where this page comes from
- Year 3 report (Sept 2024)
- Year 4 report draft for review (2025)
02 · What we did
What the grant made possible
Four strands of work, each bringing better support closer to communities.
Healthier communities, closer support
Envoys and International Delegates are the bridge between the Federation and communities in countries where L’Arche has only a few communities. With the Evaluation and Learning team, they introduced a common assessment of a community’s health, identity and mission, and helped leaders turn the results into plans.
In Bangladesh, L’Arche Mymensingh has no local oversight, so a regular assessment against common standards matters, especially for safeguarding and quality of care. It completed its assessment in December 2024 and built an action plan the following month. In India the national leader took all five communities from assessment to action plans. L’Arche Villa Villa in the Czech Republic said the process helps them see the big picture, with an Envoy bringing an outside perspective.
Formation and leadership development
The Latin American Formation Program, coordinated by Envoys Azucena Bustamante West and María José Revaz and supported by the Pulte Foundation, builds year on year. In 2025 it offered online sessions on communication with pictograms (49 people) and on affectivity and sexuality (38 people), hands-on communications and fundraising training in every community, and in-person gatherings for house and programme leaders in Santo Domingo and for community leaders in Buenos Aires. More than 50 staff and volunteers were trained, directly benefiting more than 130 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In Africa, assistants learn through Relationship-Based Care, a formation developed locally that covers professional caregiving, understanding intellectual disability, safeguarding, non-violent communication and teamwork, with exchanges between Uganda, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast.
A 37-page evaluation of the international formation programme, published in May 2025, recommended that the international team act as a convenor: equipping others to deliver formation locally, keeping an online library of resources and supporting communities of practice.
Communications and fundraising support
L’Arche International now helps communities tell their own stories. A storyteller produces films and photo sets; Echoes of L’Arche shares stories across the Federation, with easy read editions; and the graphic designer trains communities to make their own materials in Canva. In February 2025 the community leaders of L’Arche Zimbabwe and L’Arche Kenya joined a fundraising training in Germany.
I feel the workshop has given me amazing skills to help me go into the field and start the work on fundraising.
Community Leader, L’Arche Zimbabwe
When crisis came, the same tools helped communities respond together. In 2023–24 L’Arche raised more than €350,000 for L’Arche in Bethlehem, Haiti, Ukraine and Poland.
Learning across communities
Communities facing similar challenges now learn from one another. Four communities in Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Egypt run family outreach under one plan funded by the Agence Française de Développement, supported by project management from L’Arche International.
A social entrepreneurship lab brings together communities in India, Egypt, Zimbabwe and France, funded by a new family foundation and supported by the consultancy Ellyx. Through sessions in 2025–26 on sharing tasks, business plans, partnerships, indicators and communication, they built a common framework, presented in March 2026, with ten recommendations, from “start small, experiment, adjust” to “putting the relationship at the heart of the business.”
Social entrepreneurship at L’Arche is not just another economic activity: it is a transformative experience for people with disabilities, for teams, for communities and for society.
Social entrepreneurship framework, March 2026
Safeguarding: from baseline to culture
- 2020–2021 — A Safeguarding Coordinating Committee, a code of conduct with an easy read version, a complaints policy, and a first participatory audit with external adviser Dee Jethwa that set a baseline.
- 2023 — Second Federation-wide safeguarding evaluation, with data from every community gathered through the CRM, and a toolbox of good practice.
- March 2024 — Two days of trauma-informed training for International Delegates, Envoys and national leaders.
- May–June 2024 — At Porticus’s recommendation, L’Arche attends international safeguarding conferences in Ottawa and Rome.
- 2025 — Safeguarding webinars for around 35 leaders in Asia and the South Pacific. A Safeguarding Officer joins L’Arche International.
- 2027 — Next Federation-wide safeguarding evaluation.
Leaders in Latin America have named safeguarding as a topic that still needs more support, and the Safeguarding Officer will build a network of safeguarding leads across the Federation.
[Paragraph: the safeguarding action plan for the next two years, and what L’Arche most wants to strengthen before the 2027 evaluation.]
Where this page comes from
- Year 3 report (Sept 2024) and Year 4 report draft (2025)
- Latin America Formation Program final report (Dec 2025)
- Uganda one-pager (2026)
- Social entrepreneurship webinar deck (Ellyx, March 2026) and lab reflections 2025–26
- L’Arche application to Porticus (2021), safeguarding section
03 · In their own words
In their own words
Stories from communities where stronger support has made a difference.
- Juanita and Fátima
- From assessment to action plan
- Finding a voice with pictograms
- Title: L’Arche Croatia and education
- Rehema and Julius
- Fundable projects that start with members
- A home in wartime
- Family outreach, learned together
- Michael at the café
Tegucigalpa, Honduras (HN)
Juanita and Fátima
Juanita (11) and Fátima (21) are sisters with disabilities in the villages of Ojojona, a few hours outside Tegucigalpa. Their mother died months after Juanita was born, and their grandparents, Don Epifanio and his wife, raised them without access to therapy or medication. They “knocked on many doors.” Then members of L’Arche arrived in the village.
L’Arche Tegucigalpa’s family support programme brings physiotherapy to the home through CEUTEC students, teaches families rehabilitation exercises, and helps them earn an income through workshops and egg-laying hens. Don Epifanio and his wife now play an active role in their granddaughters’ progress.
It shows how L’Arche Honduras has grown from caring for its own members to building capacity in the wider community: more than 900 people are now served through its local initiatives.
We have left everything to God.
Don Epifanio
Choluteca, Honduras (HN)
From assessment to action plan
After L’Arche Choluteca completed its community assessment, its Envoy encouraged the leader to choose the areas to work on and write an action plan. The community wasn’t used to writing plans. The Envoy asked how they had reached a recent goal; as they described each step, they were describing an action plan.
In spring 2025 that habit paid off: the community won a $10,000 grant from UNHCR for its sublimation studio, where members such as Felipe and Santos make and decorate mugs and t-shirts for sale. The grant required a clear plan and regular reporting.
Latin America (LA)
Finding a voice with pictograms
Juana has been a member of L’Arche Mexico City since its founding. She does not speak, and communication was a challenge for years. After the formation session on pictograms, the house began using them every day. It inspired the community to take Juana on a pilgrimage to Chalma, where she used pictograms to connect with people from outside L’Arche.
In Choluteca, Santos Osorto now communicates fluently, and Sebastiana uses pictograms to speak to schools and churches about disability.
The positive changes in the home were immediate.
Mariana Pérez González, House Leader, L’Arche Mexico City
Thanks to pictograms, Santos found his voice.
Sergio Vicente Torres Galindo, Community Leader, L’Arche Choluteca
Watch: Directors’ formation 2025 video report ›
Croatia (HR)
[Title: L’Arche Croatia and education]
[Story: L’Arche Croatia’s school outreach programme. Who takes part, what happens in the classroom, and what changes for students and core members.]
Context: L’Arche Croatia is a partner in the EU-funded TwidSA project, which held an in-person training in Croatia in October 2024, and in Nothing About Me Without Me (2026–27). With L’Arche Slovenia it also runs a horse-riding programme for at least 40 people with intellectual disabilities.
Kampala, Uganda (UG)
Rehema and Julius
Rehema, who prefers to be called “Mama Halima,” arrived at L’Arche Uganda after a childhood of great hardship, and her trauma often came out in intense outbursts. Today she delights in keeping order, takes initiative with chores and connects warmly with others.
Kisekka Julius, a long-term assistant, house leader and safeguarding lead, credits Relationship-Based Care with changing how he supports members like her.
Through the Relationship-Based Care formation I began to slow down and pay closer attention to her emotional needs… In time our relationship became more peaceful and she gradually showed more trust and comfort.
Kisekka Julius, Assistant, L’Arche Uganda
Harare, Zimbabwe (ZW)
Fundable projects that start with members
Enoch Sixpence is a shy man with few words who has become one of the community’s most fruitful farmers. The food he grows in the greenhouse and gardens feeds the community and brings in income from the local market.
L’Arche Zimbabwe builds its projects around the gifts of its members, which makes them compelling to funders. It has delivered more than 850 health and wellness consultations in 18 months, and, with L’Arche Germany’s support, applies for multi-year German government grants. For one of them, the Evaluation and Learning team is helping design a survey of how 300 local families’ perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities change.
L’Arche is all about sharing. So I’m grateful I shared one of my gifts.
Tatenda Chimombe, member, L’Arche Zimbabwe
Lviv, Ukraine (UA)
A home in wartime
When war broke out in February 2022, L’Arche communities in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania became emergency responders almost overnight: delivering food and medicine, transporting refugees with disabilities, adapting buildings, and helping families start again. More than 700 people were supported, around 350 of them intensively.
Vadym left Kharkiv with his mother and brother and chose Lviv because there was a L’Arche community there. After a visit home, he decided to stay.
Here, I’m not alone — I’m always surrounded by my friends.
Vadym, L’Arche Lviv
It’s a miracle that I’m here… I’m treated like a human being, not an invalid.
Igor, refugee welcomed by L’Arche
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Egypt (AF)
Family outreach, learned together
Four communities run one family outreach plan funded by the Agence Française de Développement. Working to the same indicators and reporting together has built skills that each community can use with other funders. The families’ own stories are in the Sustainability chapter.
[Paragraph: what the joint meetings between the four communities looked like, and one concrete example of a practice that travelled from one country to another.]
Alexandria, Egypt (EG)
Michael at the café
At L’Arche Alexandria’s café and guest house, Michael has flourished. His story was shared with partners at COSP17 to support the conference theme of employment, and performed exceptionally well on L’Arche’s social media.
The café is one of four social entrepreneurship pilots. In Egypt and France, a place opened the community to the city; in India and Zimbabwe, the business grew out of everyday life in the garden.
Watch: Michael’s story (long version) ›
Where this page comes from
- L’Arche one-pagers 2026 (Honduras, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ukraine)
- Honduras donor report 2026
- Latin America Formation Program final report (Dec 2025)
- Special report: Crisis in Ukraine
- Year 3 and Year 4 reports; Ellyx deck (March 2026)