This year, the Arc of Butte County celebrates 57 years of transforming the lives of people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.  Solid management and fiscal responsibility have enabled us to continue providing state-of-the-art programs and services to underserved citizens of an economically disadvantaged region.

Mission and History

The Arc of Butte County is committed to securing for all people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to chose and realize their goals of where and how they learn, live, work, and play.  The Arc is further committed to reducing the incidence and limiting the consequences of developmental disabilities through education, information, advocacy, and the support of families, friends, and community.

The term “developmental disability” refers to a range of severe and chronic disabilities attributable to a mental or physical impairment beginning before adulthood, including mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, and other disabling conditions that are closely related to mental retardation or that require similar treatment.

The Arc of Butte County started in 1953 as a group of parents seeking support and guidance from each other and help from their government.  Our local Arc also joined a network of State and National Arc chapters in order to effectively advocate for improvement in the lives of all people with developmental and other disabilities.

Region and Population Served

The Arc serves Butte, Glenn, and Tehama Counties in California’s north Sacramento Valley, a primarily rural area larger than the state of Rhode Island.  Nearly 20% of the general population lives below poverty level, compared with 14% for California as a whole.  And within this region, there are pockets of poverty where income levels are even lower, and unemployment rates far higher than average.

We currently serve almost 900 individuals with disabilities, in addition to family members and other primary caregivers.  For most of our clients, the Arc represents the only stable provider of high-quality programs and services addressing the spectrum of issues involved in living with developmental disabilities in our community.  In the last fiscal year, the Arc of Butte County provided 240,127 hours of service.

Programs and Services

The Arc’s Programs and services create opportunities for clients to live independently, to participate in community activities, to get a job and earn income, to learn social skills, to continue their education, and other daily activities most people take for granted.  Our customized programs give caregivers a break from the day-to-day stresses of raising a special-needs child, helping to keep families healthy and cohesive.  The Arc provides services wherever they are needed: in our service centers, in clients’ homes, and throughout the community.

In our effort to be socially responsible and self-sufficient, the Arc has developed Business Enterprises to help to fund our programs.  Our retail operations include the ARC Store, with outlets in Chico and Oroville, combining a thrift store and café.  These businesses share an on-line commercial outlet on the Support Page, which links to The Arc Trading Company on EBay.  The Arc’s retail businesses provide the core of our successful Vocational Readiness program, which has the goal of creating meaningful paid employment in an integrated and supportive environment for people with disabilities.  We also operate a rental hall in Chico.

The Arc of Butte County operates all of our enterprises as green industries.  We power our headquarters using a solar-panel array, and are committed to building only green, sustainable facilities.  We participate in community programs to dispose of electronic waste and recycle cardboard.  Our thrift stores sell 100% reused materials.  The California Integrated Waste Management Board gave the Arc a 2008 Waste Reduction award for incorporating waste reduction, reuse and recycling into our daily business activities.

Board Of Directors – 2010

Michael McGinnis, Executive Director 
and Elaine Pegg, Vice President

Executive Officers

• President – Ed Caldwell
• Vice President – Elaine Pegg
• Treasurer – Scott Laursen
• Courtney Casey

Members At Large

• John Breedlove
• Steffen Nelson
• George Farrugia
• Mary “Ginger” Williams
• Ken Hanson
• Jim Graydon
• Tim Vander Heiden

Past President – Kimberly King

Current Situation ~ 2009-10

The Arc receives state funding through our fee-for-service agreement with the Far Northern Regional Center.  The rates paid to Arc for services to individuals with disabilities have been frozen for most of the last two decades, 20 years.

In this time of economic recession, the State of California has passed significant funding cuts to individuals with developmental disabilities.  The Arc has been told by Far Northern Regional Center (the service agency that contracts with the State Department of Developmental Disabilities) that the Arc’s Socialization, Tutor, and Recreational Therapy programs will be temporarily suspended.  There is no date set when funding might me restored. These programs allow children and adults to successfully integrate into our local communities.

The Arc will no longer be providing services to 197 clients, resulting in a $750,000.00 loss in program revenue.  These new program cuts come on top of $150,000.00 in cuts Arc sustained last February when the state passed their first phase of budget cuts.  The combined impacts amount to 20% of Arc’s funding.  The Arc expects to lay off 60 employees in addition to management work furloughs, cuts to health insurance, and other expenditure reductions implemented last year in reaction to the financial impacts cause by the economic recession.

The Arc of Butte County has committed all of our resources to sustaining our other programs and services at our current level of excellence while safeguarding our organizational and financial health during this challenging economic period.  We have stepped up fundraising in hopes of forestalling service cutbacks, seeking contributions from private individuals, local corporations, and private foundations.  We have embarked on a project to reinvent our retail establishments as a profitable source of supplemental income.

We have the support of the City of Chico, the North Valley Community Foundation and many other local business leaders.