TARC Celebrates 60 Years of Creating Opportunities

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Imagine a world that strives for inclusion, to empower those who don’t have many opportunities, and to help a community be stronger by embracing differences. That’s what Terrebonne Arc (TARC) does in Terrebonne Parish and has done so for 60 years.


 

The organization is celebrating 60 years of serving a population of individuals with intellectual disabilities. According to the official website, the organization’s mission is to provide innovative services, the opportunity for community inclusion, and the enjoyment of a meaningful life for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities in Terrebonne Parish. Erica Pellegrin, Director of Division Three and Marketing, knew she wanted to work with the population since she was fifteen years old. She said that they have been striving to educate the public on what exactly they do. She explained that they create employment, jobs, and opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, “so that they can grow and learn different job skills in our different work environments.” She went on to explain the different enterprises within TARC that consists of different job industries that not only create jobs for the disabled but also do so in a way that gives back to the community.

 

TARC has thirteen enterprises that serve the community including Bayou Country Café, Bayouland Yard Krewe, Bon Appetit Cafeteria, Buy-U Beads, Cajun Confections, Cedar Chest Boutiques, Cedar Chest Donation Center, Grand Designs, Houma Grown, and Lagniappe Cleaning Company. The industries are an array of different jobs that include, a bakery, restaurant, landscaping, tee-shirt and design, second-hand retail, and more! These create opportunities and create small businesses in the parish. “They learn these different skills so that they can hopefully work in other places within the community,” Pellegrin said.

 

TARC also offers a day program for those individuals who either cannot work or choose not to work. The program consists of providing access to the community. For example, they can help individuals gain experiences within the community through outings and teaching them skills. “For those that are not interested in working with our TARC businesses, and they might want to work for a different employer, we also do community employment,” she explained. Pellegrin explained that the organization works with adults ages 18 and up after they graduate high school and strives to support them in any way they can so they can become amazing adults. TARC also provides transportation and residential services. In other words, if anyone wants to live in their own apartment or needs support with living in a community home, they help them become independent. They also provide transportation with a fleet of vehicles through TARC.


 

TARC stems back to the ’50s when Jeffery and Nellie Guidry’s daughter got sick. Diana Guidry developed a high fever that damaged her brain. She slowly recovered to a degree of walking, communicating, and a few other things. Working at an insurance company where he would meet people in their homes, Mr. Guidry noticed that a lot of people in Terrebonne Parish had children with developmental disabilities. This is when the Guidrys located other families and organized a form of “special school” to help train people with intellectual disabilities. A classroom was made, available at Terrebonne Elementary School, in 1953 with a class of eight students. Not only was it the first in Terrebonne Parish, but one of the first in the state.

 

Nellie Guidry became the first president of the “Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens” in 1952 and served until 1943. Fast forward to 1962 when $5,000 was raised after TARC saw some bad years and it was then the Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens was formed as a non-profit Louisiana corporation. They were incorporated in 1962. One of the most monumental moments for the organization is when the Parish Council added funding through a millage in 1968. This led to them obtaining the Houma Air Force Radar site at Number One McCord Road which became the campus in 1972. Pellegrin explained that within that building, you’ll find a pepper jelly and salsa business that runs according to FDA standards. The products are sold in local stores including Rouses along with inside the gift shop at the Café. “We always try to bring Terrebonne Parish’s needs and our needs together; that’s kind of our business model,” Pellegrin explained. 

 

The organization is proud of the business model along with the accomplishments they’ve seen thus far, especially in the last decade. Pellegrin said the fire behind the organization’s most recent successes has been a huge thanks to Executive Director Mary Lynn Bisland who began with TARC in 2007, “When she came on as Executive Director in 2007, that was really when she had this vision, and strategically laid it out. It didn’t happen overnight, so it was a vision year after year, pushing, and we often say the only thing constant is change around here because we’re always growing. We’re always improving and always looking for what’s next…how can we continue to improve the lives of others who have disabilities,” Pellegrin proudly said. She said Bisland was instrumental in setting the enterprises up for success one step at a time and creating the experience with the job skills which are tailored to individuals working at all levels, “I would like to just contribute everything to her vision and she’s continuing to grow TARC,” Pellegrin mentioned. 


 

Pellegrin touted TARC for not only creating opportunities for individuals but also creating avenues for the community to interact and understand each other a little more. Stemming back to her teens, Pellegrin was a Special Olympic Coach and she said they would have practices at TARC, “There was something inside of me that said these are the people I want to work with, to serve, and since I’ve been here, it’s just been an amazing evolution of earning that we still have a long way to go to really include people with disabilities, not just in our community, but in the world,” she said. TARC and Pellegrin will continue to move forward with that mission. She said it’s important to continue going forward with the passion of gaining more inclusion, “where they can be a part of a greater culture that we are in, to be seen, to be valued, and to be heard,” she said, “I think that’s why I push every day because I love when I can come into a job and I get hugs in the morning, but it’s also just trying to make this world a better place each day because they’re the inspiration behind it.”

 

Follow TARC on Facebook and visit their website for more information. Also, check out more information about the different enterprises below: