AbleLight, formerly known as Bethesda Lutheran Communities, is a non-profit human service organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through faith-based programs.

Bethesda, a 501(c)3 non-profit, provides supports and services for more than 2,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in 11 states including California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The Institute is planned to provide consultation, research, professional training, and leadership development in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In 1949, Norma and Paul Yorde traveled from California to Watertown, Wisconsin, to inquire about placing their son on a waiting list for admission to Bethesda.

Bethesda was unable to admit their son but offered the Yordes assistance in developing a program for people with disabilities on the west coast.

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Home of the West was established in Terra Bella, California, with Bethesda providing assistance to help the organization get started and, in the 1970s, the two agencies partnered on a successful joint fundraising initiative.

In 2021, Raleigh, North Carolina–based Broadstep Behavioral Health, a portfolio company within the Double Impact fund of Bain Capital, acquired Bethesda Lutheran Communities' residential and support programs in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

One focus is Medicaid reform, specifically, helping to make funding more accessible to people seeking services in the community as opposed to larger, institutional settings.

As of 2023[update], AbleLight supports individuals through hundreds of programs across 11 states including California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Washington.

Students enrolled in AbleLight College live in integrated residence halls on the Concordia University Wisconsin campus in Mequon.

International partnerships also exist with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod World Relief and Human Care to provide special programs in Latvia, Romania, Russia, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic.