Achieva, formerly ARC Allegheny, was founded in 1951 by a group of family members of sons and daughters with retardation and professors from the University of Pittsburgh. The organization was initially called Friends of the Mentally Retarded. In 1956, Friends of the Mentally Retarded incorporated and became a local chapter of a state and national organization, renaming itself the Allegheny County Chapter of the Association for Retarded Children.
