Leadership
Community Leader
Janet M. Ryan, originally of Boston, MA, is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton,IA. She moved to St. Louis to become the founding community leader of L'Arche in St. Louis after having spent a year and a half as an assistant, living in community at The Arch, a L'Arche community in Clinton, IA. Prior to her move to the Midwest in 2005, she taught Scripture at St. Mary's H.S. in Lynn, MA, while earning a Master's degree in Pastoral Ministry at St. John's Seminary, Boston. She spent four years in Appalachia, as a volunteer and then program manager at Christian Appalachian Project. Janet's parents, two brothers, and her sister and family all live on the east coast.
Board of Directors
Ted
Agniel is the board president. He and his wife Donna are
the parents of 4 children, all adults. Their third
child, Mary Kate,
age 25, has developmental delays and lives with Ted and
Donna. Ted
was initially drawn to L'Arche and its spirituality through
Henri Nouwen's
writings, then more deeply from visiting L'Arche communities in
Mary Anne Tolliver is the board vice president. She has been committed to advocating for and instrumental in assuring people with developmental diasabilities have quality lives. She is currently Co-Director of Residential Services at St. Louis Arc where she has been employed for the last 25 years. Mary Anne is proud to have five brothers and loving parents who have instilled the value of family as a great asset. One of her brothers has a disability, who she claims has saved her from being spoiled rotten, as she is the youngest of the six siblings. She has a Masters degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in non-profit management.
Sam Wilson is the board secreatry. He is a native of Mobile, AL. He received an MA in English from the University of South Alabama and taught English there for two years. From there he lived with the L'Arche Mobile community for two years . He was deeply affected by this experincec and feels that it led him to enter the Jesuits. He has been a Jesuit for three years. He is now a Jesuit Scholastic studying Philosophy and Theology at St. Louis University.
Carl
Hoelting is the board treasurer. He
and wife Kay are inspired by the L'Arche
model of belonging to an intentional spiritual community. He is an
Optometrist
and has been in private practice for 22 years.
Tom
and his wife, Dale, are the parents of four children and the brother
and
sister-in-law of Tom’s disabled brother, Joe. Tom has a law degree and
a
masters degree in theology. For the last seventeen years Tom has owned
and
operated Midtown Printing Co. Recently, Tom turned over the daily
management to
his staff and joined the Advancement Department at St. Louis U. High, a
Jesuit
high school in
Luanne
Boland is a School
Sister of Notre Dame. She was for many years the Director of
Donor
Relations for the School Sisters of Notre Dame and is now the Director
of
Special Education for the Catholic Education Office of the Archdiocese
of St.
Louis. She has worked as a teacher, principal, administrative
assistant, and as
director of a group home for the Department of
Special Education in
the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She
served
as a director of Project JESS (an agency committed to finding
employment for
people with developmental disabilities). She has worked as a missionary
teacher
in
Len
is a Jesuit priest on staff
at the Jesuit White House Retreat Center near
Wendy Sullivan is the president of Life Skills Foundation, a not for profit organization that helps teens and adults with developmental disabilities to live and work in the greater
Jane Walker is the former director of the Catholic Office of Disability Ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She has 17 years working with people with developmental disabilities in camping and residential settings. She is President of the St. Louis Family Support and Respite Coalition, an advocate for people with disabilities in schools and other settings.
