History

What started as a dream 60 years ago is now Arc Greater Twin Cities!

Arc Greater Twin Cities is the product of what once were seven independent chapters metro-wide, known by many different names:

• Minneapolis Association of Friends of the Mentally Retarded (1948)
• St. Paul Association of Friends of the Mentally Retarded (1950)
• Dakota County Association for Retarded Citizens (1955)
• Anoka County Association for Retarded Citizens (1956)
• Arc Scott County (1963)
• Arc Carver County (1967)
• Scott County Association of Retarded Citizens (1963)
• Arc of Hennepin County (1983)
• Arc Ramsey County (early 1980s)
• Arc Suburban (1986)
• Arc Anoka Ramsey (1995)
• Arc Anoka, Ramsey, Suburban (1999)
• Arc Hennepin-Carver (2001)
• Arc Great Rivers (2002)

Since Arc's first meeting in 1946, Arc's structure and name has changed, but its fierce commitment to improving the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families has not. Read more in a Walk Through Time with Arc.

Today Arc Greater Twin Cities is the largest chapter in Minnesota and the 12th largest chapter in the nation.