Washington, DC – The Arc’s employment program, The Arc@Work, is pleased to announce it has received a $325,000, one-year grant from the Walmart Foundation. This funding will be dedicated toward scaling the programs that The Arc@Work and Walmart have created over the past two years to train and place people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in competitive, integrated employment within their communities.

Employment rates for people with disabilities – especially people with I/DD – are critically low compared to people without disabilities. The US Census Bureau’s American Communities Survey (2015) estimates that people with any disability or a cognitive disability are employed at much lower rates (34.3% and 24.8% respectively) than those without disabilities (73.6%). Additionally, the National Core Indicators Survey of 2015-2016 reported that 19% of people with I/DD in the workforce reported having a paid job in the community.

In response to these dire statistics, through funding from the Walmart Foundation, The Arc@Work has built a successful partnership in working with local chapters of The Arc to provide competitive and community-based employment opportunities and strengthening chapters’ relationships with local businesses since 2016. To do this, The Arc@Work provides technical assistance and an average sub-grant award of $10,000 to chapters of The Arc located across the country that provide community-based employment opportunities.

Over this two-year span, the Walmart Foundation has supported The Arc@Work and chapters of The Arc located across the country in training more than 2,000 individuals and placing more than 800 individuals into competitive and community-based jobs. Additionally, participating chapters of The Arc have forged relationships with nearly 500 local and regional employers to provide trained job candidates and staff training on creating inclusive work environments. This new round of funding will allow for The Arc@Work and chapters of The Arc to achieve even greater impact over the next year.

“For far too long, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been relegated to the margins of the working world. Along with private initiatives, new government regulations promise to dramatically increase the number of people with disabilities placed alongside of people without disabilities in integrated, competitive environments. The support from the Walmart Foundation will allow The Arc to continue to transform the existing pool of talented candidates with disabilities into productive employees,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc.

The Arc advocates for and serves people wit­­h intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of over 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with I/DD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.