As a part of the new series reviewing the Rush County Community Foundation’s “designated endowment” funds, we’ll be taking a weekly look at the Rush County nonprofit organizations that have funds that support their mission and work held at RCCF.  The first organization in the series is Arc of Rush County.

Arc of Rush County’s mission is to promote and protect the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively support their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetime.  Formed in 1972, the group has advocated for changes made in the Rush County community and schools to better accommodate the needs of those with developmental and intellectual disabilities that live in and travel through our county.

In 44 years, the Arc has accomplished a great deal to progress our community.  Arc secured pre-school facilities in its early formation, advocated to stop bussing special needs students out of town, contracted services from Shares, Inc. and bought property on Harcourt Way to provide adult training services for over 40 clients at a time, and continues to play an instrumental role in the development and funding of handicapped-accessible playgrounds and pathways at RES and the Rush County parks system.   Awareness and donations continue to be raised through participation in parades, the Mayors Walk, and community activities.  These events assist with supporting Rush County special education teachers with a stipend for school supplies ($200 for each of the 20 teachers in 2015!) and enabling events and outings for Shares adults.  Arc of Rush County has made living, working, and playing a more enjoyable and accessible reality for an entire subpopulation of our community that had previously been underserved.

Arc of Rush County is able to make such wonderful strides in our community because of their passionate volunteers and the monies raised to support their mission.  In 2005, the board of Arc decided to begin an endowed and temporary, “pass-through” fund at the Rush County Community Foundation.  The endowment fund continues to grow through memorials, donations and bequests, generating an annual disbursement to Arc to support projects.  The pass-through fund is not endowed; the funds are simply held at RCCF for extraordinary needs of the group.  In addition to the funds at RCCF, the Foundation has also provided community grants totaling $3,700 to assist Arc with programming needs and $10,000 to the City of Rushville Parks Department to purchase and install handicapped play equipment for the city parks.  As the Arc endowed fund continues to grow, annual distributions will increase, furthering the organization’s capacity within our community.

To learn more about the Arc of Rush County funds, visit our website www.rushcountyfoundation.org, our office at 117 N. Main St., or give us a call at (765) 938-1177.  Your donation today will make an impact for generations to come!