Kenny Patton’s Arc story begins in 1975, when freshly-graduated (in Agriculture) Patton took a job at Arc of Acadiana delivering an agricultural program to the clients.

Within a few weeks, a supervisor left, and he found himself in that role.There he was, right out of college, with little experience and even less idea of what to do next. He took a leap of faith, and persisted.

Something must have gone right, because 46 years later, Patton serves as CEO of Arc of Acadiana. Additionally, he says the best part of his job is the people.

“I enjoy the people, from the clients we serve, to the staff we employ. We currently serve about 700 clients throughout Acadiana and in Bossier City, and we have about the same number of staff within the organization,” Patton said. “Our people are very creative and come up with great ideas for our clients. It’s a joy to see what they figure out as solutions on a daily basis.”

Since 1954, Arc of Acadiana has been devoted to improving the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities. According to the organization’s website, arcofacadiana.org, Arc of Acadiana is a family-driven organization working with volunteers, educators and professionals on local, state and national levels. The group strives to ensure that all people with developmental disabilities can:

• Live life to their fullest potential

• Choose where and how they live, learn, work, recreate, and socialize

• Access jobs, housing, personal care services and alternative therapies

• Live life with dignity, self-support, and a deep sense of satisfaction

Arc offers a vision of society that accepts all individuals with their own unique capabilities, allowing them to contribute fully to their community, the site says.

 

“Arc of Acadiana’s goal is to promote the independence of people with developmental disabilities. That’s our bottom line, and we have several programs to support that,” Patton said.

Arc offers day programs, which provide their clients with creative outlets, community involvement and recreation. For those able to work, there are numerous employment opportunities, with local companies like McIlhenny, McDonald’s and CLECO. “We also run five resale stores in Acadiana, and we do recycling,” Patton said. “One of our most successful programs is the Mardi Gras bead recycling we do each year.”

Residential services are another important aspect of Arc’s operation. Currently, there are seven community homes in the area, each housing 6-8 clients. They also support their clients with independent living, approximately100 are living autonomously in apartments. 

Arc has also taken over large state-run facilities, with the goal of moving people back into the community.

“We’ve been very successful,” Patton said. “When we started running the facility in Iota, there were 65 people living there. We were able to move most of them into community homes in the Rayne area, and that improved their quality of life exponentially.”

In 2012, the state contracted with Arc to take over the Northwest State School, which had 120 residents. By now, most of them have been moved into the community.

“There are still 40 people we serve at the school. They are medically fragile, and we will continue to care for them in the facility,” said Patton.

 

Last year, with the hurricanes that hit the area, Arc had to evacuate 100 of its clients to Dallas to ride out the storms. “We took them to a hotel with a water park. They enjoyed the trip. It was more like a vacation,” he said.

After 46 years, Patton realizes that even good things must come to an end. He reluctantly said he may retire in about a year or so. “But I’ll always come visit. You can’t really give this kind of thing up cold turkey,” he said. 

He has his horses and cattle to tend, and he would like to travel, but Arc of Acadiana will stay in his heart, he said.

“I’ve made such good friends here, and our board of directors has been so supportive at every turn,” Patton said. “They allowed us to take chances and do things differently, and that led us to our success for many years.” 

Patton has made his mark on Arc of Acadiana, and it is fair to say that the Arc has made its mark on his heart as well.