The Origins of L'Arche

In 1964, Canadian Jean Vanier felt called to invite 3 men with intellectual disabilities to move from an institution to live with him in an old house in Trosley-Breuil, France. He named the house L’Arche after Noah’s Ark and gradually welcomed not only more men and women with intellectual disabilities but assistants who would live and work together.

Since then, L’Arche has grown into an international federation of more than 140 communities in nearly 140 countries.