George Miller Center - Richmond

We are a nonprofit community-based organization—our mission is to enhance and enrich the lives of children with special needs and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and similar conditions. Toward that end, we provide direct services and advocacy to assist those we serve in achieving their highest level of personal independence and self-sufficiency.

We are family based—Contra Costa ARC was founded by parents and family members of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their vision guides everything we do. Family members serve on our Board of Directors, and individuals receiving services elect representatives to a Board Advisory Committee. Much of our support comes from families and friends of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

We are experienced doing what we do, and we do it well—Contra Costa ARC was incorporated in 1965, and since then we’ve become a leader in the field, supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We are known for providing high quality, cost-effective services. We serve over 1,000 children and adults in Contra Costa County every day.

We provide a wide range of opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our array of early intervention services includes a unique and highly respected program for children on the autism spectrum. We support hundreds of individuals to access their communities every day. We are the largest employer of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the East Bay.

We are a financially responsible nonprofit organization—we stretch our budget as far as it can be stretched. We don’t cut corners on the quality of our services, but we cut back expenses wherever they can be cut, and we make every dollar of every contribution count.

We work hard to be as self-sufficient as possible—we operate our own assembly, packaging, and direct mail business through our Commercial Support Services program, and we generate substantial support from our Good Stuff Thrift Shop in El Cerrito. Every dollar of revenue directly supports our programs.

Contra Costa ARC is a partnership between the public and private sectors—much of our funding comes from government sources, but a significant part is self-generated or comes from our friends in the community. In fact, we depend upon support from the community to continue operating. We invite you to become a part of that support.