Vision and Mission Statement

VISION

A world in which all people with disabilities enjoy social justice and equal participation in society and our communities

MISSION STATEMENT

ARCH Disability Law Centre, as a specialty legal clinic with a provincial mandate, undertakes to achieve this Vision by:

• Ensuring our work has Ontario wide impact

Focusing on, identifying, and removing systemic barriers

• Addressing issues that have an impact on low-income people with disabilities, including the root causes of poverty

• Empowering people with disabilities

• Being recognized as experts in the law as it affects people with disabilities

• Addressing the heightened disadvantage, marginalization, and exclusion faced by people with disabilities by reason of factors such as gender, race, age, language, economic status, and sexual orientation.

VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

ARCH is guided by the following set of core values:

• The dignity and worth of all persons with disabilities must be respected;

• Persons with disabilities have the right to life, self-determination, and full participation in a society free from barriers to their inclusion and integration;

• Persons with disabilities themselves are in the best position to determine their own priorities;

• All persons have a common responsibility to create communities accessible to all persons with disabilities.

Additionally, ARCH is guided by the following set of core organizational principles:

• ARCH operates in accordance with the above core values;

• ARCH is a community-based organization, governed by a Board of Directors composed of a majority of persons with disabilities;

• ARCH is accountable to persons with disabilities in Ontario, its members, and its funders.

About ARCH Disability Law Centre

ARCH Disability Law Centre is a specialty legal clinic that practices exclusively in disability rights law. ARCH is dedicated to defending and advancing the equality rights, entitlements, fundamental freedoms, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Ontario. ARCH provides basic legal information and summary legal advice on certain disability-related areas of law and represents persons with disabilities and disability rights organizations in precedent-setting cases.ARCH also provides public legal education to disability communities and conducts community development projects that support its extensive law reform practice, involving a variety of initiatives related to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities.