L’Arche Wavecrest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit was founded in 2004 when Karen Carr (the organization’s founding executive director) came back to Orange County, California, after living for five years in a L’Arche community in France.
L’Arche Wavecrest founded Abraham House, the first L’Arche home in California. Abraham House is a home where core members (persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities) and assistants (persons without intellectual/developmental disabilities) live in community. The structure of the community is unique because there are no roles of patient or client; the core members and assistants live in the household as a family and share all aspects of daily life.
In addition, Abraham House also serves as a focal point for local community-based organizations, churches, public agencies, and individuals to work together to create a healthy community for all persons with developmental disabilities.
The L’Arche Wavecrest community is characterized by a spirit of welcome and the valuing of relationships where each person, with or without a disability, is enriched. Besides those who share life in our home, our community has a circle of friends who participate in its life in various ways.