Our Story
In 2016 a small group of fiercely hopeful people gathered to form a nonprofit, Transforming Care, with a mission to facilitate the creation of sustainable supports for individuals who need long term care, their families, and caregivers. We are people with developmental disabilities, their families, and people with extensive professional experience in care work. We chose the name Transforming Care to convey our belief that it is possible to transform lives and communities through mutually empowering, authentic relationships of care. We imagined a future when all persons with disabilities are fully included and meaningfully engaged in mutually transformative relationships based on an appreciation of the strengths and gifts we offer each other.
Since then, after many conversations, we learned we weren’t alone. We joined the L’Arche Federation, which shares our values of compassion, connection, and community, and hired our first Community Leader in January of 2025. As we grow, we look to invest in our relationships with adults with disabilities, their families, and care workers to build together a L’Arche community of care here in Buffalo.
What is life at L’Arche like?
Here we believe we weren’t meant to do life alone.
We gather to make meaning, art, and good food together and look for new ways we can show up for each other, and make each other feel seen. You can expect us to do things slower for the sake of not leaving anyone behind, and doing better as we know each other better. Whether you see us at our classes, our community night, or out and about together, you should see a community of folks along a wide range of abilities and experiences who belong together.
Our Network
L’Arche Buffalo is accountable to the high standards of L’Arche USA and L’Arche International.
L’Arche Buffalo 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 over 160 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.
