By Penny Leuthard, 

Staff Writer

 

Clear Lake resident Brett Nelson was elected to serve a two-year term on The Arc Minnesota statewide board of directors at its annual meeting. Nelson is one of 24 newly elected members who will serve the recently merged organization.

The Arc Minnesota is part of a nation-wide non-profit organization that exists to promote and protect the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The organization supports them and their families for a life of inclusion and participation in their communities.

January 1, 2018, the separate Arc chapters throughout Minnesota came together as a statewide organization in order to better provide access to quality programs and services across the state. The newly elected board members, including Nelson, represent the organization’s regions, which were the previously independent chapters of the Arc.

Nelson became involved with The Arc after his family received help and support from the organization. He and his wife, Andrea, were already parents to daughters Tory and Abby when their son, Nicholas, was born with Down Syndrome in 2004. 

“We didn’t know he had Down Syndrome before he was born, and The Arc Midstate was the first one there to help us,” said Nelson. “Along with their resources, we’ve also made life-long friends at the get-togethers they have for parents with kids the same age.”

Nicholas attended Clearview Elementary, which he loved, but the Nelsons didn’t know where to go when it was time to send him to middle school. They were pushed to send him to a special education school in Monticello, however, their daughters were already attending school at Becker and they wanted to keep them together.

“It’s been a great experience, Nicholas loves school,” said Nelson. “Becker put a really good program together for him.”

Although he has paraprofessionals and attends special needs classes, Nicholas is mainstreamed with the rest of his class. He will be a freshman this fall.

Along with serving as an educational resource for families, The Arc also does a lot of housing and policy work, as well as helping parents with their children’s IEP (individual education plan), where they sit down once a year to set individual goals.

“They especially help a lot during the transitional stages such as moving from elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, and getting ready for the years after kids are done with school,” said Nelson.

Nelson has been involved with The Arc for 12 years. Before being elected to the new board of directors, he was a board member of The Arc Midstate in central Minnesota for 10 years, including serving as board chair, and was a director on The Arc Minnesota Interim Board.

“I volunteered to be on the board of development committee to make sure our voices were heard,” he said. “If you look at some state associations you’ll see they’re primarily for large urban areas like the Twin Cities. I didn’t want that to happen to us. The new board of directors has representatives from all regions across the state.”

Before the organization merged, many areas of the state, including the Clearwater/Clear Lake/Becker communities, were unserved regions, as local chapters were shutting down. With the merger comes better coverage for all areas.

Nelson’s personal goal is to help get everything with the newly merged organization running smoothly.

“We’re basically a new organization even though we’ve been around for a number of years,” he said.

Current goals for The Arc Minnesota include upgrading technology and marketing the organization’s brand so the public is aware of who they are and what they do.

“It’s a great organization,” said Nelson, who plans on continuing to serve after his two-year election is up.

The Arc Minnesota’s expanded services throughout the state include access to a toll-free information and referral phone number, as well as the option to submit questions to advocates and receive responses within one business day.

Local money will stay local, opportunities to participate in online and in-person education and training events are being expanded, and the organization will support grassroots engagement of volunteer leaders to develop public policy and fundraise to support statewide goals.

The organization works with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to provide information and assistance, personal advocacy and public policy leadership to support a good life. These disabilities include autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, fragile X, Williams syndrome and others. 

The Arc is always looking for volunteers. To get involved or for more information, visit arcminnesota.org.