History

The original non-profit agency, known as the Foundation for the Retarded of the Desert, was founded in 1959 by a small group of concerned parents who wished to expand the horizons of their developmentally disabled children’s lives with educational programs and recreational services.

In 1969, property was purchased in Palm Desert, California, and a vocational training workshop program for disabled adults was established. In 1983, program operations were moved when the first phase of the Palm Desert facility was built on donated property to provide expanded programs where more than 50 mentally and physically disabled adults where served by the Agency.

In July 1999, DesertArc constructed its 26,000-square-foot building at the Palm Desert Campus where vocational training and employment is provided to clients through the operation of on-site businesses. In 2000, two new workshop facilities for 60 clients were established, to include a site in Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree.

Today, DesertArc serves over 600 clients expanding from the Coachella Valley and the Morongo Basin, as far west as Temecula and as far east as Blythe.