The house at 305 Mead Road may look like just another beautiful old Oakhurst home receiving a facelift, but it’s much more than that. It is about to become the first home in Atlanta for L’Arche, a network of intentional, faith-based communities where people with and without developmental disabilities live together. And on June 3-10, 500 representatives from 140 L’Arche communities in 40 nations will converge in Decatur for the L’Arche International General Assembly at Agnes Scott College.

Just prior to the formal assembly, June 1-3, L’Arche is coordinating a Family Weekend, in which international delegates will stay with Atlanta families. L’Arche is now seeking Atlanta—and especially Decatur—families to host two or three delegates in their homes from Friday to Sunday. “We thought it would be a good way for them to gain an understanding of the community and culture of Atlanta,” says Tina Bovermann, the events manager for the International General Assembly.

If you are curious to meet people from all over the world, consider opening your home to these guests during this weekend. According to the organizers, the weekend is “yours to make.” I have signed on to take some guests into my home that weekend, as have several of my neighbors. We will meet them at Decatur Presbyterian on Friday afternoon, then they will participate in our lives and routines with us throughout the weekend until Sunday afternoon when we will help them get to the Agnes Scott campus for the assembly. I’ll probably invite my guests to walk up to the square on Saturday morning for the farmer’s market, for example.

The assembly organizers are also encouraging hosts to take their guests to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center on Saturday. “It is no accident that we are gathering in Atlanta,” Bovermann says. “It is the home of Martin Luther King.” The last assembly took place in Kolkata, India, inspired by the work of Gandhi and Mother Theresa.

In L’Arche communities, which may encompass one home or several homes in a city, adults with cognitive disabilities share their lives with assistants and staff members in a family style environment, in the spirit of hospitality and mutual respect for each individual’s dignity and value. Key to L’Arche’s mission is making known “the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, revealed through mutually transforming relationships.”

The house on Mead Road will open in July as just such a community, with three disabled residents sharing life with three assistants, living together in the manner of a family. The house’s use by L’Arche is the result of a partnership with the Community of Hospitality, a group of people who for the past 30 years have lived a deep commitment to  vulnerable populations in Atlanta and Decatur at 305 Mead Road. A multi-year fundraising effort and a major renovation of the house is now nearly complete, thanks to many, many volunteers and supporters in the community.

Established in 2005, the endeavor has already put down strong roots in Decatur. Friends of L’Arche Atlanta’s founding community leader/executive director is Curt Armstrong, a resident of Winnona Park. Curt first came in contact with L’Arche in 1990 when he lived for four years in the community Le Levain in France. The Friends of L’Arche Atlanta board also includes Decaturites Trace Haythorne, Lisa Persons, and Martha Moore-Keish.

To find out more about the L’Arche movement and the International Assembly, and to register to host delegates in your home, visit http://atlanta.larche.org/.

And to find out more about Friends of L’Arche Atlanta, visit http://www.friendsoflarcheatlanta.org/.