The Arc Caddo-Bossier

Building Unlimited Opportunities 
for People with Disabilities

The Arc Caddo-Bossier is a private, non-profit agency that provides an array of services and supportive
programs for infants, children, teens and adults with disabilities and their families.

For over 70 years, The Arc Caddo-Bossier has worked to build unlimited opportunities for people with disabilities — and it’s all thanks to the support of our donors and our community. Every dollar makes a difference by:

• Providing high quality early childhood educational opportunities at The Arc Caddo-Bossier's Goldman School & Child Development Centers.

• Provide children and adults the opportunity to experience riding a horse and be provided with access to equine assisted services from The Arc Caddo-Bossier's GREAT Program.

• Provide adults we serve employment opportunities via Frost Industries, as well as recreational day program activities at the James Conly Day Program.

• Provide adults we serve communal or individualized residential opportunities, as well as supported living services.

• Leveraging The Arc Caddo-Bossier's voting power to help advocate for people with disabilities and their families at the state and federal level.

We ask you consider "Giving" to further support our mission for people with disabilities and their families.

History

The Arc Caddo-Bossier was founded in 1954 by parents who wanted more for their children with disabilities. At the time, these children had no access to public education, but their families knew that with the right tools they, too, could learn, grow, and develop life skills. Therefore, the program now known as Goldman School and Child Development Center was born. Today The Arc Caddo-Bossier offers an array of services for adults and children with disabilities, including equine-assisted services, inclusive childcare and early education, community living, and workforce development. The Arc Caddo-Bossier has been "building unlimited opportunities for people with disabilities" for over 70 years. In all we do, we strive to help those we serve achieve their least restrictive environment and live as independently as possible.

Testimony

Catie Plaxco, parent of a student at The Arc Caddo-Bossier's Goldman School and Child Development Center, calls the program, and our organization as a whole, a “hidden gem” in our community. Catie and her husband, Chris, love to share about what The Arc Caddo-Bossier has done, and continues to do, for their son, Max. 

According to his parents, Max has “thrived” since he began attending Goldman School at age 2. The inclusive classroom model has allowed him and his typically developing peers to learn from each other. Not to mention, those peers don’t treat him any differently because of his disabilities. To them, “he’s just Max!” The following story, as told by Catie, is a perfect example:

Max also benefits from therapeutic horseback riding at The Arc Caddo-Bossier’s GREAT Program. He loves all the staff and the horses and, because they offer inclusive camps for children, Max was able to attend and ride with his typically developing brother, Knox, last summer.

Stories like that of The Plaxco Family are the reason we do what we do at The Arc Caddo-Bossier.