L’ A r c h e c A n A d A F o u n d At i o n

Annual Report

2009-2010

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Western Canada L’Arche Greater Vancouver L’Arche Comox Valley L’Arche Calgary L’Arche Edmonton L’Arche Lethbridge L’Arche Winnipeg L’Arche Saskatoon

OntariO L’Arche Daybreak L’Arche Toronto L’Arche Arnprior L’Arche Ottawa L’Arche London L’Arche Sudbury L’Arche Hamilton L’Arche Stratford L’Arche North Bay

QuebeC L’Arche Mauricie L’Arche Le Printemps L’Arche Joliette L’Arche l’Étoile L’Arche Beloeil L’Arche Montréal L’Arche d’Amos L’Arche Agapé

atlantiC Canada L’Arche Cape Breton L’Arche Wolfville L’Arche Antigonish L’Arche Saint John L’Arche Halifax

L’Arche Communities in Canada

L’Arche communities as of March 2010

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L’Arche VisionA healthy society values each person’s contribution. L’Arche works to build a society where everyone – both the weak and the strong – has a meaningful place of belonging. L’Arche works to make this vision a reality by welcoming and honouring women and men with intellectual disabilities in almost 200 small homes and day settings across Canada.

Every year L’Arche in Canada has a transformative impact on the lives of hundreds of young people who assist in L’Arche settings. As well, each year tens of thousands of senior high school students use L’Arche curriculum in Catholic, public and private schools across Canada.

Thank you for holding this vision with us.

Members of L’Arche from different Canadian communities sang ‘BuildingTogether’ the theme song of L’Arche General Assembly 2009. From left to right: Elizabeth Ritter (L’Arche Daybreak), Liska Stefko [L’Arche Daybreak], Gilles Buisson (L’Arche Beloeil), Haley Zavodivker (L’Arche Cape Breton), Eric Chartier (L’Arche Joliette).

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Dear Friends of L’Arche,

Recently someone asked me an important question.“Given all the progress for people with intellectual disabilities over the past few years, why is L’Arche still needed?” I answered that:

1. It is estimated that there are 750,000 people with an intellectual disability in Canada. 2. It is widely acknowledged that they continue to be the most vulnerable and rejected

among us.3. Those with intellectual disabilities are profoundly vulnerable because they cannot

compete physically, or in the realms of power, language, commerce or status.4. They are rejected because there continues to be a deep discomfort with intellectual

disability in our society. This leads to the exclusion and abuse of our fellow citizens who have such disabilities.

5. Far too many people with disabilities who are either at home with aging parents or receiving care from an agency suffer from acute loneliness and isolation because they have no real friends.

Yes, progress is being made but our society is far from one where everyone belongs, regardless of their capacities or incapacities. The need for the vision and mission of L’Arche has never been greater. L’Arche exists to give a secure home, friendship, and a life of value to people with an intellectual disability. And this is what we are doing, with your help, from coast to coast across Canada.

We are deeply grateful for the many individuals and foundations who have embraced this mission with us, and are providing the finances needed for the growth of L’Arche. To each of you we say “thank you” for your trust and your confidence and for holding the people of L’Arche in your heart and in your prayers. Thank you,

Executive Director, L’Arche Canada Foundation

LETTER FROM THE

Executive Director

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Highlights from the Past Year

L’Arche was the first organization to alert the world to the fate of people living with intellectual disability after the January 12th earthquake in Haiti

We are deeply grateful for the thousands of people who have been involved in the work of L’Arche over the past year. This includes the more than 2,000 people with an intellectual disability and their assistants in the 29 L’Arche communities across Canada, as well as family members, volunteers, board members, teachers and students. This also includes our donors whose financial support sustains the work and mission of L’Arche.

This past year we continued our core work of supporting the almost 200 L’Arche homes and programs across Canada. The impact of L’Arche is dramatic for the hundreds of people with a disability who are receiving life time care and friendship in their L’Arche settings. For each person with a disability L’Arche is making a huge difference. It is the difference between having a home and being homeless. It is the difference between being safe and being at risk. It is the difference between living a life of value and, on the other hand, living a life of isolation and loneliness.

We are always excited when new people can be welcomed into L’Arche. The most recent L’Arche community in Canada is in Halifax, where eight people with disabilities were welcomed over the past year. Wonderful!

Continued on the next page

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Highlights from the Past Year

Bill Van Buren was the first person to be welcomed to L’Arche in Canada (L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill, 1969). Bill was 56 when he died this past year.

We are proud to have developed a new bilingual website to help Canadians understand and navigate the experience of aging, dying, and grief for people with an intellectual disability. It provides caregivers, families, health practitioners and the general public best practices and practical tools developed in L’Arche over forty years. It also provides selected resources from other individuals, organizations and government agencies. Please go to www.aging-and-disability.org to explore this wonderful resource. More than 20 videos are available for visioning on these topics!

A second bi-lingual website, www.appartenance-belonging.org, emerged from the bonds of friendship and respect that three groups of people – L’Agora, L’Arche and the PLAN institute for Caring Citizenship – have for each other. We have witnessed the power of belonging to transform lives, to create meaning, to restore dignity, to reveal our deeper purpose. We have also observed the devastating effects of isolation, loneliness, fragmentation, fear and estrangement from each other, from nature, from our soul. Our ultimate vision is a world where everyone has a true experience of belonging. This website is an important Canadian contribution to this issue and a good example of how L’Arche can collaborate with other organizations.

Inserting L’Arche educational materials into secondary school curricula continues to be a major focus of our student outreach program. We have met with provincial Ministries of Education and given a number of well-received workshops. We estimate that about 150,000 senior high school students across Canada use our material each year.

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L’Arche only exists because of the love and expertise of hundreds of assistants who share their lives with our “core members” (those with intellectual disabilities). A significant accomplishment this year was the completion of a national compensation policy for L’Arche employees across Canada. Our national Application Database System was improved to help us process an average of 100 applications per month. We are deeply grateful to the young people who continue to be drawn to L’Arche to love and serve and “make a difference”.

The January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti shocked the world and devastated parts of Haiti. L’Arche Canada continues to be directly involved in supporting our fellow L’Arche people in Haiti in a variety of ways (pastoral support, re-building, communications, fundraising etc.). Our fundraising for Haiti is now over $350,000. This will continue to be a priority for us over the next year and beyond.

Finally, to work well together and to increase our impact L’Arche must have a good system of leadership and Board governance. During the past year we undertook a successful transition of our national leadership team, created a new national mission strategy, and renewed and streamlined the national Board of Directors. All this, and more, was ratified at our National Assembly meeting that took place in Montreal this past November. This meeting (once every four years) brings together L’Arche delegates from all across Canada.

We look back on the past year with gratitude for each and every person who has given of their time, talent, and resources to further the work of Jean Vanier and L’Arche.

Belonging is that invisible but indispensable force that connects us to each other, to our families, our communities, our country, our beliefs, our earth, our universe. That is why a number of thinkers from L’Encyclopédie de L’Agora, PLAN and L’Arche have created a website devoted exclusively to exploring all facets and aspects of belonging: Appartenance-Belonging.org

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Financial Report For the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2010

The L’Arche Canada Foundation is the fundraising arm of L’Arche Canada.

This year PKF Hill Chartered Accountants were again appointed as our auditors. Their report states that the audited statements present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position of the L’Arche Canada Foundation as at March 31, 2010. The full audited financial statements for 2009-2010 are available upon request and can be found on our website.

The L’Arche Canada Foundation adheres to the Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code developed by Imagine Canada. Our purpose in doing so is to assure donors that we are committed to the highest standards of information disclosure, reporting, and financial management. The code can be found in its entirety on our website at www.larche.ca. Look under ‘Donate’ in the section on Stewardship and Philanthropy.

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Revenues and expenses For the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2010

Revenue

General donations $1,807,616 Grants from Charitable Foundations $522,307 Bequests $125,335 Interest and sundry revenue $43,311 $2,498,569 expenses L’Arche Canada Programs $1,416,891 Cost of Fundraising $215,146Administration & Overhead $236,066 $1,868,103

BaLanCe sHeeTFor the Fiscal Year ended March 31, 2010

asseTs

Current Assets Cash & Short-term investments $1,301,639 Prepaid expenses $1,318 Loan receivable $150,000 Accounts receivable $111,926 $1,564,883 LIaBILITIes and neT asseTs Current Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $367,261 Net Equity $1,197,622 $1,564,883

Audited Statements

expenses

L’Arche Canada Programs 76%

Administration & Overhead 13%

Cost of Fundraising 11%

Revenue

GeneralDonations 72%

Bequests 5%

Other 1%

Grants from Charitable Foundations 21%

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L’Arche Canada Foundation

Board of Directors Brad Badeau (vice Chairman) Brad is a Senior Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer of Burgundy Asset Management.

nathan Ball Executive Director, L’Arche Canada Foundation.

Jean dansereau A psychologist with a specialization in psychiatric rehabilitation and President of L’Arche Canada Inc.

peter Howlett President and Founder of Portage Canada, drug addiction centres, and a Member of the Order of Canada.

paul Kennedy President of Kennedy Management Partners, a consulting firm that works primarily with smaller technology-based companies.

dennice Leahey Former Senior Vice President and Ombudsman, Royal Bank Finance Group, and a Member of the Order of Canada.

dean Levitt (Chairman) Wealth Management, Price-Waterhouse Coopers and the founding Chairman of the L’Arche Canada Foundation.

Honorable Barbara Mcdougall Advisor, Aird & Berlis LLP. Barbara is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

anne Marie Meehan Vice President of Harris Private Bank, British Columbia.

andré vincent Vice President, Assurance collective, Québec Croix Bleue Medavie.

Hollee Card National Coordinator of L’Arche Canada.

Kathleen McLaughlin Director of the worldwide partnership of McKinsey & Company and leads McKinsey’s Canadian Retail Practice.

nancy Coldham Founding partner of a privately owned Canadian public affairs consulting firm, The CG Group.

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Jean Vanier is an internationally recognized social and spiritual leader with a keen sense of what makes for building a compassionate society. Vanier has written best-selling books about what it means to value all of our fellow human beings, to live a fully human life, and to be peacemakers in our society. A spokesperson for all who are marginalized, Jean Vanier has received many humanitarian awards including the Companion of the Order of Canada.

Jean Vanier, L’Arche Founder

Your continued financial support is appreciated. There are many ways to donate:• Makeanannualgift,aspecialgift,oragiftofcelebration/memory.• Becomeamonthlydonor.• IncludeL’ArcheCanadaFoundationinyourwill.

For information, please call 905-770-7696 or 1-800-571-0212.

L’arche Canada Foundation300-10271 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill, ON L4C 3B5Tel: 905-770-7696 Fax: 905-884-4819www.larchefoundation.caCharitable Registration No. 8890 9719 RR0001