The Arc of Riverside County
Who is The Arc of Riverside County?
The Arc of Riverside County is a nonprofit agency providing services and advocacy to individuals with developmental disabilities (Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Autism, Epilepsy, and Cerebral Palsy among others) and their families in Riverside County. They also conduct education and awareness activities for the public and for various target groups. Their programs and advocacy on behalf of individuals with developmental disabilities who encounter the criminal justice as victims and perpetrators are well known throughout the country.
We invite you to visit ArcRiverside.org to learn more.
The Value of One
Few deny that individuals with intellectual disabilities are devalued in our culture. We see considerable evidence of this on a daily basis. Coinciding with The Arc of Riverside County's announcement of the NineZero Games is their launch of the "Value of One" campaign affirming the inherent value of every person - with and without disabilities. People need not fit into some neat category of behavior or convention to be treated as an equal. Our constitution says otherwise and the 2007 President's Committee on Persons with Intellectual Disabilities' Report states the same. It says, "All people, including people with intellectual disabilities, are endowed by their creator with the same inherent value." We have begun celebrating the "Value of One" as our way of demonstrating that everyone is important and has a place in this world.
This Event is Special Because It shows that Everyone Has Value
This event gives us the opportunity to honor every person with an intellectual disability - including those with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - and their families. By celebrating the "Value of One," we are saying that everyone is important, and everyone has inherent value.
How We Plan to Use the Proceeds from this Event
Over the last seven years, The Arc of Riverside County's NineZero Project has had many accomplishments, but our goals are ambitious ones. At a time when the state is cutting funds for services to people with disabilities, we need to do more, not less. Here are some of the ways we will use our fundraising dollars:
- Continue to develop a therapeutic horticulture program at Ray Strebe Resource Center
- Create high impact FASD messages for target groups about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy
- Distribute information on FASD to women in recovery and to women seeking prenatal care
- Distribute The Arc of Riverside County’s instructional DVDs on abuse victims with disabilities to law enforcement
- Help support a social/recreation program for people with developmental disabilities in the Pass Area
- Continue contributing to the California State Task Force on FASD in order to emphasize prevention
- Prepare our NineZero.org Web site for distribution of all materials and curricula throughout the United States
- Continue research on how to reach young people more effectively with the NineZero message
- Augment our work training and supported employment programs for people with disabilities
We need your help to sustain our efforts and reach our goals. We want to partner with
you - individually, your business, your service club, and your community. Together we can win the information and education battle against those that dispense falsehoods and remain silent on the issue of drinking during pregnancy.
Education and health promotion are needed to undo the damage that is done by just one recent five-minute segment on a national morning talk show when it implies that drinking moderately during pregnancy is okay. Your contributions and sponsorship of this event will help us in this effort.
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