SWAINTON — For the past 59 years, the Arc of Cape May County has been working to provide aid and care to residents who were previously overlooked or pushed away, and soon will be moving into a larger space to expand its offerings.
Starting the Arc as a way to protect the future of their children, the founders created an organization that would improve the lives of those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Little did they guess that the work would grow to touch every life in the region, as people began to understand that these neighbors could be friends, co-workers and even providers of aid themselves — a rich legacy for those who refused to simply put their children in an institution far from public eyes.
As the mission of the Arc expanded to include residential facilities, day programs and recreation, as well as employment training, so did the need for space.
In a story told many times, this non-profit has moved from one location to another, adding resources as well as services.
“The Arc owns and operates 14 group homes, a training center in Rio Grande, a Thrift Shop, an admin office in Cape May Court House,” said Majken Mechling, CEO of the Arc of Cape May County.
Mechling added that there also are several internal food pantries scattered around the county, requiring daily shipping to homes, and the simply colossal laundry needs at each home.
In terms of people power, the Arc currently works with 250 clients, 79 of whom reside in the homes, and 240 employees to keep it all running in accordance with state and national requirements.
“We work with the state Arc and the Arc of the U.S., and though we keep standards high, we turn no one away,” Mechling said.
The organization also has to meet the guidelines of the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). Every one of these alphabet entities was founded to prevent the abuse of this incredibly vulnerable group of people, meaning their requirements are all for the protection of clients and residents — and should not be casually dismissed as mere red tape, when there is so much history of life before the creation of this oversight.
The newest chapter of the Arc is beginning in the next few months, as the organization is looking to consolidate several of its older locations into the new facility in a building that Holy Redeemer owned for years at 1801 Route 9 North in the Swainton section of Middle Township.
“I remember when it was a dinner theater,” Mechling said with a laugh, adding that the smaller of the two buildings on the nearly 12-acre site was once the actors’ changing rooms before becoming a food pantry for Holy Redeemer.
That smaller 1,500-square-foot building is going to serve as the ARC’s new food pantry, too.
“People have been going there for years, it was a successful service to the community,” Mechling said.
So, although the renovations will naturally shut things down for a bit, they plan to reopen it in about 2 years, or as quickly as they can while maintaining safety and all relevant standards. Work already has begun in that building, but there is even more to do in the massive complex beside it.
“The main building has about 15,000 square feet of space,” Mechling said. “So admin and the training center will take about half of that space. In the next year we’ll do some interior changes and move the day program and employment services to the big building.”
The buildings sit on a lot that is about 11.5 acres, “but a little over 4 acres are really wetlands,” said Mechling, who has been steering this initiative to move to this location for at least two years.
The surrounding space offers a peaceful background for the site, which means buses carrying clients to and from recreational activities, or trucks carrying food or laundry, won’t bother neighbors or clients or interfere with recreation.
It also means that the Arc finally has room to expand without commuting miles around the county, running across a patchwork of facilities that sometimes overlap as storage space is needed.
“We provide a lot of services — an enormous amount of day care, recreation, training and respite,” Mechling said.
She added that “people often forget that we offer respite services for the caretakers of a family member with developmental disabilities.”
This service is crucial for those who might not otherwise be able to schedule a medical procedure for themselves, or even take a much-needed break to heal or spend time with other family or friends, due to their commitment to one family member whose needs are constant.
They can leave their loved one in the hands of trained caregivers for as long as two weeks, which — as anyone who’s been a caretaker can attest — is an almost unfathomable relief, especially when the caretaker needs care.
“Families can take a break knowing their family member is being cared for by someone who understands their needs,” Mechling said.
The respite facility will also move to the main building; a testament to the growing need in the county as the population ages — including the caregivers.
Expansion, community service, all the possibilities that come with the new headquarters: that’s all still to come.
In the next few months, work will be intensely focused on the smallest building: the food pantry. Since one of the goals of the Arc is to help clients who can work and make friends in the community learn how to do so, the food pantry will not only become the central distribution point for all the ARC’s residential needs, it also will become a training center for jobs.
“Our goal is for it to be an opportunity for our folks to train with us for jobs like stocking shelves, shopping and customer service,” Mechling said. “The other thing is that we have a high need, higher than usual, for laundry. So we’re putting a commercial laundry in for our residential houses.”
That requires a significant number of blankets, towels and other linens.
“It could be a good training opportunity, as well,” Mechling said.
Jobs often mean friends and increased sociability for people living with disabilities; in some cases it helps them achieve some independence.
Fundamentally, the Arc is about the people it serves: their needs, their rights and their protection.
“People living with disabilities have the same rights to live in our community as everyone else. Most of our homes” — the residential homes are staying put — “people don’t even know they’re there. Our clients have the right to live their best lives right here in their home,” Mechling said.
Whatever shape that best life may take as the county grows, the Arc is prepared to grow to meet it.
By VICTORIA RECTOR/For the Star and Wave
