June is Pride Month, and this year, we are celebrating the ways in which The Arc supports our employees and the people we serve to feel safe in their identities at The Arc.

“As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community myself,” said Jonathon Rondeau, President & CEO of The Arc, “ensuring that our employees and the people we support who identify similarly feel included and heard is important to me.”

At The Arc, we pride ourselves on the policies and practices we have in place that support LGBTQIA+ employees and their families. Even simple things like gender-neutral bathrooms, not officially defining “family,” including domestic partners in our total rewards (benefits), and offering fertility and family planning total rewards that cover surrogacy, IVF, and adoption expenses are essential to supporting our LGBTQIA+ employees.

The same goes for supporting the people we serve who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“We have a reputation for providing excellent services and programs for young people,” says Matt Morgan, Chief Program Officer. “Many of the people we support are Millennials and Gen Z, and they’re curious about their identities and finding belonging.”

But it’s not just young people who identify within the LGBTQIA+ community. Anyone, regardless of age, can feel supported at The Arc to have those important conversations as they live independently, think about relationships and community, and ultimately, what they want out of life.

“When we talk about providing holistic, person-centered support, we truly mean supporting the whole person,” says Cindy Lindgren, Senior Director of Behavioral Health. “Supporting people in understanding their own LGBTQIA+ identity is part of providing person-centered support. Our Behavioral Health team regularly supports people in engaging with every aspect of their identity, including sexuality.”

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are just as likely as any other population to identify within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. Supporting people to understand how they experience the world, how they fit in, and how their various identities intersect is essential.