arc programs is a multi-service community agency based in Kelowna, established in 1989. We operate in the Okanagan and West Kootenays regions and have been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) in recognition of our commitment to providing the highest quality services.
Our mission is to provide prevention, therapeutic supports and connection for children, youth, families, and adults, alongside their circles of support in the Okanagan and West Kootenay regions by cultivating and promoting equitable and inclusive services. We are guided by respect and culturally relevant, responsive, reciprocal, and relational engagement.
We promote advocacy in the areas of well-being, poverty reduction and social injustices, and commit to addressing the 94 Calls to Action and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) in our day-to-day activities. We commit to Transformative Reconciliation work through our actions and engagement with Indigenous partners and the broader community.
Our work is guided by many acts, declarations, and calls to action, including:
As an employer of choice in the social services sector, we recruit and retain highly skilled staff and support their development through training, education, research, best practices, and innovation. We foster a culture of continuous learning and reflective practice, utilizing a Metuaptmumk or all-around seeing* approach –this is a multidimensional way of knowing, doing and being that reinforces positive, reciprocal relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, creating and deepening understandings between differing cultures that are sharing experiences, while decolonizing western knowledge and supporting an intersectional lens. It is a wholistic human development and systems transformation. We do this while engaging meaningfully with the provincial community social services sector, Indigenous communities, and agencies.