Branding is a buzz word the describes identifying a product, service or organization. Organizations are keen to be properly marketed. Celebrities want their own brand. Products must be attractively branded to entice buyers.

The Arc of Snohomish County is on the brand wagon, too. They will tal

k about the organization’s new logo and tagline at an annual meeting planned for 5:30 p.m. May 11 at the Old Spaghetti Factory, 2509 196th St. SW, in Lynnwood.

“The Arc of Snohomish County is one of the first local chapters to adopt the new national logo,” said Joan Flesher of Warm Beach, an

Arc board member for 15 years.

The new swoop of a logo will appear on publications, websites, blogs and signs. The tagline is “Achieve With Us.” They are very optimistic, Flesher said, hoping the orange and yellow logo colors stand out among nonprofit organizations, like pink is associated with breast cancer research.

She said there are more than 700 Arc chapters around the country.

Shayne Nagel, Executive Director of The Arc of Snohomish County, said the organization is about empowering folks to have necessary tools to be involved in bettering the lives of loved ones with developmental disabilities.

She said the new, necessary branding, represents hope and promise.

“I’ve received calls for Arc asking if we are the American Red Cross.”

Nagel has an 18-year-old daughter, Erin, who has autism and a brittle bone disorder. She knows it’s important to speak for a child who can’t speak for herself.

The Arc offers support groups, workshops and training, activities, family outings, advocacy in Olympia and speaker nights. They have nine paid staff members in Everett. Funding comes from a variety of sources including United Way of Snohomish County, Snohomish County, the city of Everett and private foundations.

“Donations are huge,” she said. “We are always writing grants.”

They offer parent education groups at nine school districts.

“We are working hard to reach out to different cultures where English is a second language,” Nagel said. “We have a new employee who reaches out to the Hispanic community.”

Her daughter was diagnosed with autism at age 2, Nagel said. She needed to know about the best doctors, museums to visit and where to find resources.

“I got my best information from other families,” she said. “My lifelong work is to connect families, to give them tools they need to get up and get on.”

Flesher said she knows too well about how a family copes with a developmentally disabled member. When her firstborn, Jeremy, 32, was almost 2 years old, he lost the ability to focus and speak.

“He seemed normal, then the few words he knew disappeared,” she said. “He turned inside himself. I had to force him to look at me.”

Jeremy is classically autistic, Flesher said.

Folks weren’t as aware back then about autism. She would explain her son was autistic and folks would say “He’s artistic?”

Flesher found help at Providence Children’s Center in Everett. Her son attended school and graduated at age 21 from Stanwood High.

He is served by Village Community Services in Arlington and lives in a home with two roommates. Flesher takes her nonverbal son on hikes and car rides. He loves music, she said.

Staying connected to other families with the same challenges is important, Flesher said.

Nagel said she hopes to see new faces at the May meeting in Lynnwood.

“Isolation is a big thing for families and for those with disabilities,” Nagel said. “With the Arc, people don’t feel isolated anymore.”

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.

Arc info

For more information about The Arc of Snohomish County, call 425-258-2459. Or visit www.arcsno.org.