The ARC Arkansas*

The ARC Arkansas has served people with developmental disabilities for 50 years, but they are by no means the only Arkansans to benefit from The ARC’s activities. Since 1999, The ARC has renovated seven historic high schools and hospitals to provide affordable, accessible housing for both those with developmental disabilities and those without. In the process, the nonprofit has preserved unique buildings.

The ARC of Arkansas, founded in 1957 as an advocacy group, merged in 1996 with Diversified Opportunities, which provided services to the disabled, creating an organization that combined advocacy with service.

CEO Steven W. Hitt began work at Diversified Opportunities in 1981, staying on after the merger. COO Cynthia Stone has worked for The ARC since 1988. “We decided when we merged … that we had to listen to people with disabilities, and that is what has guided us,” Stone said.

In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that under the Americans With Disabilities Act, the states, where appropriate, must place people with developmental disabilities in community settings rather than segregate them in institutions.

Stone said, “We really studied the issue of housing in Arkansas for all people, not just people with disabilities.” At the same time, The ARC had been given Trinity Court Hospital in Little Rock, built in 1911, and was trying to figure out what to do with it.

So began The ARC’s move into property development, taking historic properties and, using affordable housing and historic preservation tax credits, transforming them into safe, affordable lofts. “When we market one of our properties, we market to the general public, and what’s happened is a real good, natural mix,” Stone said.

Hitt and Stone said their work was deeply satisfying. For Stone, it’s a personal experience: “My oldest daughter has developmental disabilities, and she’s been my guiding light.”

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