ARC Herkimer President and CEO has spent nearly three decades at the nonprofit at various positions. She discusses how the organization helps people with disabilities
By David L. Podos
Q: How long have you been the president and CEO of ARC Herkimer?
A: As of Jan. 1, 2026.
Q: Prior to that what were your title and duties?
A: I was executive vice president of support services for approximately 11 years. Prior to that I held supervisory roles and eventually moved into the position of director of compliance quality and safety where I became vice president. All in all, I have been employed by the ARC for 27 years.
Q: Let’s talk a bit about the name of the agency which is ARC. At one time in the not-too-distant past, that acronym stood for Association for Retarded Children. Is that correct?
A: Yes, that is correct. However, the ARC no longer refers to the description of that acronym. It is now just simply the ARC.
Q: Why was the acronym dropped?
A: Because the word retarded is not used anymore in our industry. People who have intellectual and developmental disabilities are who we serve. It’s just not the proper verbiage to be used anymore in this day and age, as it is a bit discriminatory. The letters ARC has public recognition, so the letters stay the same, but we do not refer to what those letters mean anymore.
Q: Does the agency provide services for both male and female, young and older?
A: Yes, we do. That number is about 500 people that we serve right here in Herkimer County.
Q: What is the process that someone must go through to receive your services?
A: The process would be for the person to receive evaluations from either a psychiatrist and or a psychologist. Then there is an eligibility process through our agency. Once that is completed we reach out to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities to get approval for the client to receive services.
Q: Is the process a quick one or does it move slowly?
A: I think that right now the process has become a bit slower for families. It is difficult, especially in our rural communities, to obtain the psychological evaluations that are necessary, as well as some of the other evaluations to receive services, as those areas often times have scarce resources, i.e. psychologists and or psychiatrists.
Q: Besides the lack of providers in rural areas that makes it difficult for people to be seen and evaluated for services, do you feel that may be another problem that could be the issue of stigma?
A: For our county specifically, I do not see an issue with stigma. I think that the entire industry has worked on this for years and that is for anyone who has any disability. I am sure that there is still some form of stigma out there. But I believe much of that had been lifted.
Q: What are the services that the ARC Herkimer provides?
A: We have our group homes that can house up to four or five people. Right now, we have 17 group homes. In those group homes we provide 24/7 staff care. We also have what is called supportive housing that is not staffed but help is available whenever the client needs it.
Q: I assume that the clients living in supportive housing are somewhat higher functioning than those who live in a group home that needs 24/7 staff, correct?
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q: Besides the housing that you provide, what other services do you offer?
A: We also have our day services. So, we have a few facilities where people can come during just the day. We have our career connection services where we offer to assist our clients in gainful employment, all right here in our local community.
Q: Talk about the potential health benefits that your clients receive when they are working, earning a paycheck etc.
A: Well, it certainly gives them purpose and pride and that always has a positive effect on their overall health, which is good thing. We are also a little bit different than other ARCs, because we have social enterprises, which are businesses. In those businesses that we own we hire people without disabilities as well as people with disabilities, all working together. For example, The Good Store which is located near our local Walmart is one of our social enterprises.
Q: How many staff work at the Herkimer ARC and where does the bulk of your funding come from?
A: We have about 340 staff. The majority of our funding comes from government funding.
To learn more about the ARC Herkimer, visit www.archerkimer.org or call 315- 574-7000.