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Our Story - Our Purpose
Everyone deserves to be included in opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit; to be empowered to achieve their full potential; and to be respected as active members of our community throughout their lifetime. People with Autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often face obstacles to access, inclusion and equity.
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Therefore, The Arc of Katy is focused on delivering high-quality, safe, healthy, meaningful, and affordable opportunities for social enrichment, recreation, life-long learning, skills development and community service for people with IDD. We work to conquer the social isolation that people with IDD often experience, especially after they graduate from high school, and provide access to resources helpful to their families.
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Our day program, summer Program, and social event participants, ages 16 to 60 plus, are provided with opportunities to be engaged, active members of our community. They enjoy experiences with friends, visit area attractions, participate in local events, engage in healthy activities, and contribute to the community’s wellbeing through service projects. Parents, guardians and other family members appreciate and trust that their loved ones can enjoy happy, safe and healthy activities with peers that are planned and facilitated by The Arc of Katy’s caring staff and volunteers.
A Growing Need
The need for programs and services for people with IDD and their families is growing in our community. Many families move to the Katy area because of the excellent education resources provided by Katy Independent School District and other area institutions. In addition, many families with children with special needs report they moved here because of the schools’ highly rated life skills programs and other community resources provided for youth and teens with special needs.
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There is growing demand to supplement what the schools provide for area youth and to continue to support the wellbeing and inclusion of people with IDD in our community after they are no longer in school. Our community, which extends across the Fort Bend, Harris and Waller counties of Texas, has projected significant population growth for the foreseeable future, and the school district expects that will result in more need for programs for youth, teens and adults with IDD.
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That is why we are working to maintain and continually enhance our current programs and planning to continuously expand services and resources to engage and support more youth and adults with IDD. In recent years we introduced Empowerment Through Knowledge educational sessions for parents, guardians, educators and caregivers of children and adults with special needs. In 2021 we launched a pilot Virtual Interaction Program that provides online opportunities for engagement by teens and adults with IDD who are not able to attend our in-person programs. In the next few years, we plan to expand facility capacity for existing programs and pursue opportunities to partner with other organizations to provide before and after school programs for children with IDD.
Empower Us; Achieve With Us
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we appreciate and enjoy being part of a generous, caring community. To fulfill our mission, The Arc of Katy depends on the generosity of volunteers who share their time and talents and donors who provide financial and in-kind contributions. About half of the funding for The Arc of Katy programs is generated through tuition and program fees paid by individuals’ families and government-supported service providers. The remainder is provided through fundraising events, grants, and contributions from individual and corporate donors.
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We invite you to share and support our mission.
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Volunteer here.
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Donate here.
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Become a member here.
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Join our mailing list by emailing info@thearcofkaty.org.
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If you want to discuss other ways you can assist, contact us at info@thearcofkaty.org or telephone (832) 754-9802.
