Matt Nalker | The ARC of Mississippi

When someone you love has a disability, a crisis rarely arrives with a roadmap or between the hours of 8 - 5 Monday through Friday. More often than not, it shows up alongside long waitlists, confusing paperwork, and the overwhelming question: Where do we even begin? 

On this episode of Hope Mississippi, Dawn Beam sits down with Matt Nalker, Executive Director of The Arc of Mississippi, to talk about what families truly need in difficult moments: clear information, practical support, and someone willing to walk beside them beyond the first phone call.

Matt shares how The Arc of Mississippi serves individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health needs, physical disabilities, and families navigating unexpected challenges. We explore how local chapters create meaningful community through respite care, camps, after-school programs, and creative outlets like pottery and the arts, building confidence, connection, and independence along the way.

We also discuss the life-changing impact of crisis intervention, where help often begins around a kitchen table and grows into real solutions: housing, counseling, support systems, and hope. Matt shares a deeply personal story about his daughter (Brooke) and explains how Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver supports can help families access supported housing and around-the-clock care.

Together, Dawn and Matt unpack the importance of “warm handoffs," connecting people to support through trusted relationships—as well as the growing role of supported decision-making, an empowering alternative to guardianship that helps individuals maintain independence while receiving the care they need. 

If you care about disability advocacy in Mississippi—or simply want to better understand how communities can serve one another with compassion—this conversation offers practical wisdom, encouragement, and hope.

If this episode encouraged you, subscribe, share it with someone who may need these resources, and leave a review to help more Mississippi families find support.

Join us for new episodes on the 1st and 15th of each month as we continue sharing stories of transformation from across Mississippi. Each story reminds us that when we contribute our unique gifts, Mississippi rises together.

Hope Mississippi's Mission: The sobering reality remains: one in four Mississippi children lives in poverty, and one in five experiences food insecurity. These statistics aren't just numbers—they're our collective challenge. Through these conversations, we discover that Mississippi's transformation occurs through individual commitments to mentor, encourage, and be present for others. The small acts of hope accumulate into the broader "miracles" we celebrate.

Transcript

Welcome And Why The Arc Matters

SPEAKER_04 0:36

Welcome to Health Mississippi, where we celebrate the power of faith in action. I'm Dawn Bain, and this podcast is a space for conversation, collaboration, and calling. I'm thrilled to have Matt Knocker, who is the Executive Director of the Ark of Mississippi. Welcome, Matt.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Thank you so much, Dawn, for having me. This is a real treat for me.

SPEAKER_04 1:00

Matt and I work together in a number of areas, but very proud to be able to volunteer with the Arc of Mississippi as an attorney to help. Let's just talk about some of the great things with the ARC.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Well, sure.

A Dad’s Search For Services

SPEAKER_02 1:15

I'm just coming back from a little event that we did down on the coast to where we brought a lot of providers of intellectual and developmental disability services into one place for families to be able to see what is happening in the state as it relates to home and community-based options for them. I'm on fire to share resources to families that don't know. You know, when I was a new dad, gosh, a new dad 35 years ago, we didn't know where to find services for our daughter. We knew that the doctors had great intentions, we knew that the school districts had great intentions, but there was something else that was really missing as far as knowing options. You know, when there's one dentist in town, that's a dilemma if that dentist doesn't serve you or doesn't know how to papoose a child with a disability that uh is on the spectrum and doesn't want to get somebody in their mouth. So we had to search far and wide for a dentist. When the doctors that we met with maybe didn't know or fully take the time to understand what our need for support was, we had to go deeper and further away to find services for for Brooke. So it started there and then it blossomed to seeing and understanding that there were other families in need of support. So gosh, just knowing and understanding that there are options out there for families and there is a fit for everyone, even if even if you're at your limit and you say, We've tried everything. I I would just encourage anybody listening to this to have hope that there really is somebody out there that will take the time, listen to what it is that you need specifically for yourself or for your loved one. And when you find that person, you know that that matches is what God sent them to be for you, is an answer.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

You know, your your experience, your the way you started out, reminds me of that Bible verse, God comforts us so that we can yet be comforters, because it is so difficult to invent the will, but it is a joy in sharing with people that there are resources out there, that there's hope out

How The Arc Grew Statewide

SPEAKER_04 3:20

there. And let's talk a little bit about the ARC and what it started out as and what it has grown to be.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

So for many, many years ago, the ARC was an advocacy organization for people in need of support. Well, it's evolved into that. It was the Association for Retarded Citizens, honestly, in the 60s. I don't like the term, but we all may not like where we come from, but we know where we came from is important. It evolved into abilities, respect, and choice. It was an acronym for many years. And about 15 years ago, we kind of spread our wings and just took the acronym away. And it's the Big T Little H E ARC ARC. And uh we have uh state chapter in Jackson. I have an office in Gulfport, and I have seven local chapters around the state that they are all their own 501c3s. So they do after hours respite, they do wonderful camps in the summer, they have after-school programs, they have gosh, they've done detailed needs assessments in their communities and identified what families need

Volunteering Through Local Chapters

SPEAKER_02 4:28

for support.

SPEAKER_04 4:28

We at the state arc have kind of Can we slow down just for a minute there? Sure. So if you're sitting around wondering how can I make a difference in Mississippi, call your local arc and offer your time. Anything from throwing a party for them. I throw parties for them for the holidays yearly. They come to my house and we have a fabulous time and sing and dance. But also they do arts and crafts. They just enjoy lots of different things at the art local facilities. So contact your local arc and say, how can I volunteer? And I promise you, it is the most rewarding thing. I get more hugs when I go to the ark than I do at church, even.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Yeah, you said a couple of things that it sparked, you know, here we're in the beautiful, thriving metropolis of Summerall, Mississippi, just in the shadows of Hattiesburg, the local arc in Hattiesburg, Jones County Ark and Laurel here locally. Tupelo Arc, my DeSoto County chapter is just on fire doing great things up there. Got a new chapter in Jackson County down on the coast that are doing some wonderful things. You'd said art earlier and it sparked me. If anybody happens to be on Pass Road on a Thursday, stop by my local office down there in Gulfport, and the Dream Program uses our facility down there, and there's about 40 or 50 adults in there doing some phenomenal art projects. We have a local artist that comes in and teaches the class. So if you have any art skills about you, our folks will help you advance your art skills. I tell you that if you'll come to that art program and just watch them paint, or if you want to come by and get some canvases and help them paint. We every Thursday they're doing that down there in our local, our state office in Gulfport. So that's throughout the whole month of the whole summer.

SPEAKER_04 6:21

In the Hattiesburg area, they have a pottery program and they sell that pottery, and it makes a wonderful, wonderful gift. So I I interrupted you. Let's let's go ahead and expand on all the art does. Yes, you have the local facilities that provide a variety of resources, but let's expand beyond that.

Crisis Support And Independent Living

SPEAKER_02 6:39

So at the state office, we've kind of gotten our niche as doing crisis intervention, crisis support statewide. That's how I've kind of spent my last 10 to 15 years in partnership with the Department of Mental Health. Surprising that there's 82 counties in this state, and in all 82 counties, there's a crisis going on. There's a car wreck that happens with a loved one that's in the back seat, and the mom and dad may have had some serious injuries, and no one knew that their adult son or daughter with a cognitive intellectual disability is maybe the last survivor of a car accident. That happened just two weeks ago up in the Tupelo area. We have folks that are in jails. We have folks that are in communities, aging families with a loved one that may not have gotten the evaluations or done everything to just raise their son or daughter like they would. And now they find themselves in crisis because they look in the mirror and go, Oh my gosh, what are we going to do? And when that happens, we sit down in kitchen tables like this and just help them plan to figure it out, try to find resources, try to find what that next opportunity might be for that person to go out there and live independently. I didn't believe that my daughter would ever live outside of my house. She does not use words to speak, and she has some pretty significant challenges. But I'm telling you, in the last 10 years, it changed the DNA of my house because she now lives in a home, in a beautiful home with three other ladies that have similar needs with 24-hour staff that's paid for through a program called Home and Community Based Waiver through Medicaid. It's unbelievable what that does to a family. It's not believable that you can let that grow and she can have her independence like I want for my other five children. Yes, I have six kids. All of them have different needs for support. Her need for support is just more so than the others. But from time to time, those other kids need a lot of level of support needs as well. So, yes, she has a diagnosis, but honestly, what she really has is a need for support that takes a village to provide.

SPEAKER_04 8:40

Absolutely. You know, Mississippi has come a long way with a lawsuit that said get people out of institutions and put them locally, and all over Mississippi are homes where adults are able to live independently. Everybody has value, and we want people to have as much independence as they can for them to really experience the joy of life. And y'all help people do it every day.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

We call that a meaningful day, and we want a meaningful day for our sons and daughters with and without disabilities, for our parents, for our cousin down the road. We want them to have a meaningful day. We just have learned through experience and trial and error how to get folks a meaningful day, no matter what their need for support is. So that's where

Beyond Diagnoses To Real Needs

SPEAKER_02 9:27

we start.

SPEAKER_04 9:27

You know, the challenges that we have now are not just intellectual disabilities, but mental health is a huge area that I know the ARC helps with. And then we have physical, folks with physical disabilities. It's just a variety, but it's no longer a specific intellectual disability that y'all serve. You serve folks with a variety of needs and an effort for them to live independently. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 9:54

People in need of support. We have a world of addiction out there that we've always thought it was somebody else's responsibility. But honestly, addiction does not matter how rich you are, poor, tall, fast, skinny, what other color, would nothing, nothing gets in the way of the addiction. And that's not just what we think of as drug and alcohol. We have these cellular addictions, these technology addictions that lead down paths that none of us want to sit here on the radio and talk about. But it's real and it's happening, and we need to support. We have folks that have never seen what proper social relationships look like. You know, we have a generation of folks that are being raised on computers. That's a fact. They may have learned what a proper social relationship looks like on the internet. Well, I'm here to tell you that's not where to learn. They've not learned appropriately that it is proper and good to have a relationship that is healthy and it's not based upon what you can do for me and what I can do for you. So we've got a lot to do. There's plenty of work to do. But yes, ma'am, you're exactly right. It's way beyond what we started off as being in the 60s. We're an advocacy organization for people in need of support. When you call us, we don't ask what your disabling condition is, we don't ask what your diagnosis is, we ask what your need for support is, and we either link you to it or we provide it.

SPEAKER_04 11:18

Absolutely.

How To Reach The Arc

SPEAKER_04 11:20

And so I I know recently I hadn't reached out to you myself and say we need some help in an area. So if someone is struggling with a family member and is in need to connect with services, how would they go about doing that?

SPEAKER_02 11:36

ARCMS.org is a place that you can find all of our email addresses and all of our particular information. You know, we have an 800 number. I hadn't called it in so long, but uh 800, that's that's so 2000s, but 601-355-0220. Reach out to me personally at matt at arcms.org or go to our website at arcms.org. Check us out. Wherever you are in the state, wherever you are, gosh, I'll say in the country, we'll link you to support. We don't just, you know, I talk to my staff in the staff meetings about linking to support, what that looks like. And it's not just giving out a phone number, it's listening to and understanding what you're looking for, making the call on behalf of that person and making sure when you do give that number that you've already set up a warm handoff with whomever it is that you're talking to, and say, hey, Johnny's gonna call you tomorrow at two. Please be available for his call. And this is what he needs. Link it to support is a little different at the arc than it is. Well, I hope it's not any different anywhere, but we're gonna make sure that we make sure if I give you a number, it's somebody that we've already called. We've made sure that that service is available to you. There's nothing worse than somebody telling you about a service that's not available. I'll tell you a quick story why that's important to

Warm Handoffs And An Early Intervention Lesson

SPEAKER_02 12:56

me. When my daughter Brooke turned four, almost to the day, I said within a week, I learned about early intervention. And I learned about early intervention from a wonderful person that was just enthusiastic about what early intervention services were. Well, as a dad that didn't speak the language yet and that didn't know the jargon, I just heard about all the services. And at the end of his sales pitch, so to speak, he said, How old is your daughter? I said, Well, proudly she just turned four. He says, Ah, none of that, what I told you will work, because that's only for birth to three. That perturbed me greatly, Don Bean. And probably catapulted me into this world of service systems that is important to make sure that you know your customer. And all of all of our services are free, by the way, but they're still customers of ours. And and make sure that what you're telling someone is really true. Because you want to be able to deliver and be part of that hope, real hope that you're giving someone that what you're telling them is the truth. So let's be truthful, let's be transparent. If it if we don't know, I I probably say I don't know more than I would like to during the week, but I'll find out for you and I'll work for you and try to figure out how to get you what you need.

SPEAKER_04 14:13

I'm reminded of the importance of collaborations and working together. And that's what y'all really do. You collaborate and connect folks, whether it be a housing or a mental health counselor, and you help with financial needs, helping them to manage their finances, just so many ways that people can get involved, and there is something for everyone to do to help those that are at a disadvantage, that are vulnerable. If you're sitting dealing with a family member with a need, the temptation is just to say, I will meet that need, but reach out to folks like Matt and connect them because as we open their world to independence, we bring an incredible joy to them. And Matt has an independent living program that helps folks to maximize their independence, which is so important. Let's talk about funding a little bit and where you get that funding from.

Supported Decision Making Over Guardianship

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Again, when you talk, I it sparks a thought with me. Our supported decision making program, our alternative to guardianships, what you help us with on the regular. You know, that program sadly is probably the one of our largest growing programs to the tune of about 10 a month. We're we're we're guardians for or surrogates or supported decision makers for almost 300 people now. It seems like the more we do, the more people find out about it and go, oh, you provide that service. Well, gosh, I've got someone that you need to meet. And it's a blessing to us, it really is. But the the guardianship program is a fast growing aspect of what we do statewide.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

The more judges know about it, the more they call on you. I can remember having people before me with major, major problems, and churches ended up volunteering in different things. And sometimes that's just what it takes. A village, but you bring the expertise that folks really need on that.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Expertise comes from experience. You know, so it's probably in the Greek, you know, whatever is short short for that. But uh, we've learned by doing it. We were always good at doing it, but we never strive to be good. We strive to be great and the best that we can do. So over the last 20 years of providing that supported decision-making model, the evolution of that program is definitely you wouldn't recognize it from when we started. And and hopefully next year you may not recognize what we're doing now. We're we're learning how to do the very best and to to report and and through our partnership with the Department of Mental Health, through our partnership with several state agencies, adult protective service, child protection services, we get reached out to from these folks to provide what it is that we do. And we've gained, you know, you only have one reputation. So we really want to work hard to be hard workers. I don't know, I don't know what level of expertise. I certainly have people that are credential and have all the right degrees and things of that nature, but it's most important to me to have hard workers that will deliver on what we say we're going to do. And that's our striving goal every every week when we step out and start our week because it turns around and it's Friday, you know. And we don't stop on Fridays and Saturdays. Sadly, crises don't usually come between eight and five.

SPEAKER_04 17:33

So you know what I've noticed, not just hard workers, but folks with hearts that care about others. That's so important when people are depending on us that we make sure that what we do we do in love and with gentleness and humility and kindness and all of that would describe what you do.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Lack of judgment. Judge not yet ye be judged. I'm the furthest thing from our preacher here, by the way, but Amen to that.

SPEAKER_04 17:57

We friends.

unknown 17:59

Right.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

But I it's truly about I know sometimes when the vulnerability of going to someone's house and sitting down in their kitchen and them just laying it out, what's going on with their loved one. That is a gift to us that they've entrusted their information and their loved one. And sometimes they're they're at their wit's end. They don't know what the next step is. And if we can give them that logical next step, and if we can give them that hug and say, you know what, I'm not sure, but we're gonna figure it out together and we're not gonna leave when it's over. We're gonna continue to make that call once a week or make that drive down and see who they are, take that person to lunch, or whatever it is, whatever the situation calls. We're really blessed and to be able to do that for a lot of families statewide. Gosh, you know, we were all brought up to not pop our collars and say, yeah, we're the ones, we're not that organization, but sometimes we have to tell our story. So I thank you for giving us a venue like this and what what you do to be able to give us the opportunity to tell the story of what we do statewide, because I know what we do, but likely you're not going to see us in the papers doing it. We're just out there doing it every single day.

SPEAKER_04 19:07

The more folks know about it, the more exciting it is, and the more you can collaborate with other folks to make be a part of the solution. You know, your person, the person that you're trying to help, doesn't have to be 100% disabled to get help with independent living. Resources are so important when we have limitations, and so it's important that families recognize needs with other family members or community members, and then access the resources that we have available. And we would just encourage you to do that.

Funding The Mission And How To Give

SPEAKER_04 19:46

Let's talk about the finances. You do partner with some of the estate agencies, so you do get a little funding from there.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Grants and contracts. So we got to kill it and drag it home every day. We got to perform, do the work, and then get reimbursed for the work. Yes, ma'am. So I do have grants and contracts with several state agencies. We're a small nonprofit, so we do get donations. We have uh bingo hall in Yazoo City, Mississippi, that is our largest fundraiser. I'm real proud to say that we have the best run bingo hall, tri-county bingo on Jerry Clower Boulevard. So if you're in Yazoo City, we're closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but Wednesday through Sunday, stop in and play a card of bingo. Your money goes to a good good cause.

SPEAKER_04 20:28

That's great. And so if someone wants to contribute, arc.com.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Yes, it's.org. ARCMS, like arcomississippi, arcms.org.

SPEAKER_04 20:40

It's a great investment. And so if you have resources and want to invest to make a difference in the disability community, that's a great way to do it. If you want to volunteer, arcmississippi.org, or call your local arc and see how you can plug in. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you and all that the ARC does. I get to see it firsthand some days, or even today. I was reading through some of the files. We were letting the court know wellness reports that individuals are being adequately cared for. But I'm just reminded the importance that your service provides to so many who would not have someone otherwise. And so we appreciate that.

Hope Rises And Share The Message

SPEAKER_04 21:27

This is Hope, Mississippi. And if you're listening, ask yourself, how can I make a difference in Mississippi? You know, hope is going to rise in Mississippi the more you and I step up to the plate to make a difference. So I hope you have a great day. Matt, thank you for joining me today.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

It's my pleasure, Don. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 21:48

Thank you for joining us with Hope, Mississippi. If today's conversation encouraged you, share it with a friend, a church group, or someone looking for a way to start. Until next time, remember, hope rises when we rise together.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

When you need some hope and inspiration to build collaboration, hope, Mississippi is your salvation.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Hope, Mississippi.