Kyla: Hello! Well, I know your names, but can you say them for the audience, please?

Tatum: Yes, my name is Tatum Tricarica.

Cindy: My name is Cindy Fields.

Kyla: Great. Thank you. And what is one of your hobbies or interests?

Cindy: Well, I’ll go first. Mine is that I play special needs hockey…

Kyla: Oh nice. Sounds cool. You enjoy it?

Cindy: I do because now I have a special needs team and I’m not alone. … If you have Special Olympics in your area or other leadership opportunities, it’s great to get involved.

Kyla: OK, cool. How about you, Tatum?

Tatum: I do a couple different things. One of my hobbies is reading audio books. I read a lot, especially with my friends. I’ll read books and talk about them with my girlfriend. I also am really interested in Disability justice and theology. I run my Instagram, @blind_person_in_area, and do some other Disability history type stuff in my free time.

Kyla: So, how long have you guys been with L’Arche?

Cindy: I started last year when I heard about it through our church.

Tatum: I have been intern for two years and have been involved for about two and a half years total.

Kyla: Ok, cool. Well, what interested you about L’Arche at the beginning?

Tatum: I was really interested in two things about L’Arche: One is that L’Arche North Carolina, and I think broader L’Arche, is really focused on spiritual, educational, and social events. I think that those three areas are all important, and I think a lot of the social programming for Disabled people ends up lacking an educational piece, and a lot of the educational programing ends up lacking the social or spiritual pieces… having these three connected is really important.

The second thing that struck me was realizing that most of our events are about 50/50 people who are non-Disabled and people who are Disabled. I am involved in a lot of different Disability communities, and this is one of the places that I find that there are so many Disabled people and non-Disabled people who are both committed for an equal reason and at equal levels, and that’s really amazing…

Cindy: I’m part of the NFB, National Federation for the Blind, group and … part of several other national groups and try to advocate on behalf of those people. L’Arche became another thing I wanted to do. I liked knowing that there was a place like this. So, now I’ve joined them.

Kyla: Cindy, what have been your favorite moments or memories with L’Arche so far?

Cindy: When we went to a baseball game. I loved doing that with them because I love being outdoors and getting to spend time in nature. I love that because it gets me out of the house, and it gets me to know more people.

Kyla: Tatum, you mentioned your internship. What is it like to have an internship at L’Arche and what type of work do you do?

Tatum: It’s been incredible. Specifically, I’m the Disability Justice and Theology Intern and so my two areas that I mainly focus on are the educational and the spiritual. There’s a lot of social aspects of it. Some of the biggest projects I’ve done are helping run the “Disability and” panels … a series of education around Disability and Dating, Disability and the Church, Disability and LGBTQ pride, Disability and Employment, and we’re about to have one on Disability and Ableism. I’ve also got to lead book clubs. On the spiritual side, I’ve gotten to do an advent study and stations of the Cross as well. Also “Y’all Belong Here,” which has been probably one of my favorite events.

Kyla: Cool. So, for both of you, how has being involved with L’Arche impacted you as a person?

Tatum: I think it’s really helped me develop a sense of calling. I am in seminary, and I feel really called to some sort of pastoral ministry. I realized that I felt my disability justice world and my spirituality and theology worlds just didn’t fit together very well, and L’Arche has been a place where I’ve been able to combine disability justice and theology in an actual employment setting. I didn’t really think that there would be anywhere that would take both of those things and let me hold them together, and so that was really affirming. I think also personally, it’s helped me form a lot of important friendships and relationships.

Kyla: That’s cool. How about you, Cindy?

Cindy: Mine would be just getting to know people. … It means a lot for me to get to show what I can do and what I’m made of in this community, showing how people can be aware of what a blind person can do. I could do anything!

Kyla: Last question, how do you think L’Arche impacts the community around you?

Tatum: There’ve been moments where the educational spaces have really impacted people in my life. I’ve been able to invite my community to these sorts of events to learn about disability justice. And L’Arche North Carolina also does such a good job of letting their educational events be Disabled-led. All our panels are 50% or more entirely Disabled-led. It’s really beautiful for me to watch. Not only are we learning how to interact with people with disabilities better, but we’re actually experiencing what Disabled people say about themselves.

Kyla: That’s great. How about you Cindy?

Cindy: The L’Arche community is teaching me how to grow and know my people. Now I work at the UNC hospital as a Birth Partners Doula, a volunteer doula. So, I help women have babies. It’s an incredible thing that I get to do.

Kyla: Wow, that’s cool.

Cindy: Yeah, I get to see it all happen!

Kyla: Well, thank you guys so much for willing to be interviewed!

Tatum: Thank you so much! That was awesome.

Cindy: Thank you!

Learn more about L’Arche North Carolina at www.larchenc.org.