The Arc Mid-Hudson, the private not-for-profit serving people with developmental disabilities in Ulster, Greene and Putnam counties, has formed an alliance with the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation. Arc CEO John McHugh, who has joined the HVEDC board of directors, describes the collaboration as rich in possibilities for all concerned.

Founded in 1956 by families seeking support on their parenting journeys, The Arc, which has a location on Canal Street in Ellenville, has evolved to offer everything from family-style residences for those in need of 24-hour care to supported apartments for folks who just need some guidance and transportation a few hours a week. Besides the housing, there are schools, day habilitation programs where clients can build skills among peers and supports such as respite care and specialized health care. McHugh says the organization’s work often involves finding satisfying employment for clients.

In that area in particular, he believes, The Arc and the HVEDC will identify fresh opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration. “We employ close to 1,200 people and have a $100 million budget, yet there aren’t a lot of people who even know about our little world unless they happen to have a loved one who’s developmentally disabled,” he says. “A lot of times, even people who are applying to work with us don’t know much about what we actually do – for most people, we pretty much fly under the radar.”

That has changed somewhat in Kingston since The Arc opened its Cornell Creative Arts Center in late 2020, offering a public gallery space, ceramics studio, dance/movement studio, digital arts/media studio, painting/drawing/mixed-media studio and music therapy space, all of it fully accessible and open to the public. “We had 20,000 square feet of former workshop space after sheltered workshops were disallowed in 2013, and we took our time deciding what to do with it,” says McHugh. “Ultimately, we started with an arts center, because a lot of the people we work with are very drawn to artistic expression. We had art in our day habilitation programs, but nothing this expansive, with this scope and variety. We wanted to offer it not just to the people we serve but to anyone who wants to learn an art form. So, we have people with and without disabilities learning side by side, and it’s a great opportunity for all concerned.”

With still more space to use, The Arc created the neighboring Cornell Creative Business Center – nine small “pods” with commercial kitchens suitable for artisanal food production startups. Partner companies get discounted rent in exchange for hiring one or more employees with a disability, and McHugh says it’s a win/win. “It’s an incentive for them to hire someone we’re supporting who may be interested in the culinary field, and as they get their feet under them and need more space, they have a trained, loyal employee who can go with them. We’ve had some really good success stories.”

Yet a third Kingston initiative involves the creation of accessible, productive green space where The Arc’s clientele and the wider community can come together to grow food.

“Some of our pod businesses are growing there,” he said, “and we have a sustainable water management program, diverting rainwater from the sewers. Our agricultural program is pretty exciting, and we’re hoping that being involved with HVEDC may lead us to even more partners who might be interested in working with us.”

When sheltered workshops were shut down, McHugh says, over 300 people lost the jobs that had given them a sense of purpose and camaraderie.

“I don’t think the state really understood much about the need those facilities filled, and the result was that a lot of those people just ended up sitting idle at home,” he says. “Our goal is to get people back out there and part of the community, and as workers, they have a lot to offer, but it’s very challenging to find the right role for an individual’s interests and abilities. By collaborating with the HVEDC, we hope to be able to expand the possibilities and raise awareness of what the people we work with have to offer.”