Our L’Arche Winnipeg community talks a lot about our vision of mutual care between people with and without intellectual disabilities. You might find it easy to imagine what that means for our core members and Assistants who live and work together, but what does mutual care look between L’Arche and those of us who no longer live in L’Arche, or who never have? For Jamie and Adrian Besaw, becoming monthly donors was a way for them to participate in mutual care with L’Arche.
In the summer of 2001, Adrian was a live-in Assistant with Tom and Albert at Munroe house where he was impacted by the vulnerability and trust of core members whose emotions were often transparent and freely expressed. Their openness invited Adrian to meet them in that vulnerability, which was a healing experience for him. While society often teaches us to be guarded and careful, core members like Albert and Tom invited openness and boldness. He was inspired by how many of L’Arche Winnipeg’s founding assistants were still very present in the community, loving the core members like family and investing so much of their lives in L’Arche.
15 years later, Jamie had her own experience of L’Arche family while living with Albert and Tom at Dayspring house. Her life continues to be shaped by the time she spent living with people of all different abilities, cultures and ages, experiencing a profound sense of belonging and family amongst that difference. This family dynamic was especially lively around mealtime when they’d remain at the dinner table for many hours after they’d finished eating, continuing to share stories and laughter for so long that Albert would often fall asleep at the dinner table.
Jamie and Adrian’s time in our community showed them that L’Arche isn’t about serving people with disabilities – it’s about acknowledging “our mutual need for connection and transformation.” For them, working at L’Arche was more than just a job, it was a calling – and a response to the invitation to be transformed by community life.
In a posture of reciprocity, Jamie and Adrian choose to donate monthly as an expression of gratitude for the gifts of interdependence, dignity, and relationship they both received during their time living in our community – and for the gift they know L’Arche continues to be for others.
Want to join Jamie and Adrian in donating monthly to L’Arche Winnipeg? Sign up to make monthly donations via our online donation form to help L’Arche continue to be a gift in the lives of people with and without intellectual disabilities.
