The L’ARCHE Foundation is a charity organization registered in 1991 and operating throughout the country. The focus of its activity are people with intellectual disabilities. Local branches of the Foundation: in Śledziejowice (near Cracow), Poznań, Wrocław, Warsaw, and Gdynia, are called communities, and provide various forms of support for these people. The traditional form are residential, family-seize houses of different legal forms, depending on local conditions. Currently, L’Arche runs seven such family-sized houses in Poland.
In addition, the Foundation runs sheltered accommodation as well as a day care centre, and an occupational therapy workshop. It promotes the professional involvement of people with a disability in the open labour market. Projects, focused on providing floating support are also underway; these enable people with intellectual disabilities to be supported in their own homes, where they live with their families, carers, or alone.
Besides this, at the request of different institutions, the Foundation conducts educational training activities on disability using puppets. Another activity of the Foundation is the participation in conferences that involves people with disabilities and where relevant topics are discussed. The Foundation’s statute allows it to conduct research and publish the results, in the areas of its competence.
The founder of the L’Arche Foundation in Poland is the International Federation of L’Arche Communities based in Paris. This organization brings together the L’Arche Communities in 38 countries around the world. The objective of the Federation is to work together with people with intellectual disabilities to build an inclusive society.
The Federation’s culture has developed over 50 years and aims to help people with intellectual disabilities to achieve their goals. These people are recognized as change-agents, able to positively influence the lives of others and so carry out the Federation’s mission. As such, they are full members, not just beneficiaries or clients.
Basic data
| Legal form: |
Foundation |
| KRS number (National Court Register): |
0000054452 |
| Date of entry in the register: |
2001-10-22 |
| REGON code (National Business Registry Number): |
003902507-00000 |
| NIP code (tax number): |
6761068380 |
| Does the Foundation’s statute/regulations contain a record of activities for disabled people? |
YES |
| Is the Foundation a charitable organization within the meaning of the Act of 24.04.2003 on charitable activities and volunteering? |
YES |
| Is the Foundation a VAT payer? |
NO |
| Legal basis for VAT exemption: |
OJ from 2004 No. 54 item 535 art. 113 section 1 |
| Does the Foundation’s statute/regulations contain a record about conducting activities in the field of physical culture of people with disabilities? |
NO |
| The territorial scope of the Foundation’s activities: |
NATIONWIDE |
| Does the Foundation have field structures and/or facilities without legal personality? |
YES |
| List of provinces in which the Foundation operates as part of non-legal field structures or facilities: |
DOLNOŚLĄSKIE, KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE, MAŁOPOLSKIE, MAZOWIECKIE, POMORSKIE, OPOLSKIE, WIELKOPOLSKIE |
| Does the Foundation have field structures with legal personality? |
NO |
Foundation Board
Chairman of the Board: Magdalena Anna Kotowska
Members of the Board: Jerzy Heydel, Maciej Przyślewicz, Waldemar Kwaśnik, Joanna Chłopicka, Alina Kiełpińska, Adam Dawidziuk, Roman Szyszko, Hanna Łyszkiewicz-Krupa, Anna Kupińska, Joanna Stasieńko, Justyna Nagel
Bank account
Alior Bank 18 2490 0005 0000 4500 5472 5223
Exact address
Śledziejowice
House number: 336
Postal code: 32-020
City/town: Śledziejowice
Post Office: Wieliczka
Voivodeship: Małopolskie
Poviat: Wielicki
Commune: Wieliczka
The not-paid activity focus:
- Creating and maintaining small, family-type houses that bring together people with disabilities, assistants, and volunteers.
- Running day support centres, workshops, and occupational therapy centres for people with intellectual disabilities.
- Rehabilitation of people with intellectual disabilities, collaboration with specialists (including doctors, psychologists).
- Promoting and developing the idea of volunteering.
- Building partner relations with local and regional institutions, organizations as well as contacts with the neighbourhood.
- Creating groups of friends of people with disabilities and their assistants.
- Having an impact on public opinion by showing the value and dignity of a person with learning disability (including information and promotion campaigns).
- Cooperation with other institutions conducting activities convergent with the objectives of the Foundation.
- Educational and training activities.
- Organizing conferences, training sessions, symposia, workshops, and seminars.
- Publishing in fields related to of the Foundation objectives.
- Supporting people with disabilities in working on the open labour market
- Creating new and improving existing instruments empowering people with disabilities.
- Support for people at risk of social exclusion and their families.
- Conducting and supporting scientific research related to the Foundation’s areas of interest.
Remunerated activities of public benefit
- 24-hours care for people with intellectual disabilities
- Other forms of extracurricular education, not elsewhere classified
