Azusa Pacific University psychology professor Kevin Reimer has completed a book about life within L'Arche, a network of faith-based communities centered around people with developmental disabilities. (Leo Jarzomb / Staff)

L'Arche homes and the relationship between core members and their full-time assistants are the focus of a book completed this month by Kevin Reimer, a psychology professor at Azusa Pacific University and a research faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Over the course of three years, Reimer conducted Advertisement social-scientific studies in six of the 16 L'Arche communities scattered throughout the U.S. In each community, he spent about two weeks interviewing, observing and living with the residents.

"Even while I was doing interviews, I realized that the content was so rich and so dynamic that really only a book would be able to get at the full impact," Reimer said.

"Mere Samaritans: Compassionate Love and Disability in L'Arche" is slated to be published by Continuum International Publishing Group next summer.

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