County to Help Arc Expand

Historian and Civil War reenactor Bill Gent was explaining Civil War era medical treatment at the Arc of Greater Prince William when Tamyra Penn asked a question. “What did they do with special needs people back then?” she asked.

When Gent answered that they would either be sedated or locked away, Penn had a simple response: “They didn’t know what to do with people like us.”

Gent’s presentation was one of the many programs that the Arc provides to the developmentally disabled in Prince William County, allowing them opportunities they would not otherwise have.

On Tuesday, the Board of County Supervisors directed County Executive Melissa Peacor to work with the Arc to see if the county could find a way to donate about $200,000 toward a renovation project that would update and expand the Arc’s aging facilities.

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