With great fanfare and a blessing from Archbishop Charles Chaput, Denver's newest multifamily Neighborhood Networks computer lab had its grand opening earlier this month in a converted ground floor unit of Humboldt Apartments. Located in Denver's Cole neighborhood, an area rich in cultural diversity with a strong community spirit, the Sister Mary Lucy Neighborhood Networks Computer Lab is a significant resource for residents of the apartments and the neighborhood.

The Neighborhood Network Center was named for Sister Mary Lucy Downey, a Sisters of Charity nun who worked tirelessly for 22 years to bring housing opportunities to residents of the inner city. From 1970 until her untimely death in 1992, Sister Mary Lucy was Executive Director of the Archdiocesan Housing Committee, with additional stints as President of the Colorado Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, and President of the Association of HUD Management Agents in Region 8. Well-known and loved by Denver's low-income, minority, elderly and disabled communities and respected at all levels, those who knew her say she would have felt honored to have her legacy live on in this active, neighborhood-friendly site.

Over time, HUD financial assistance to the Archdiocese of Denver's Housing Committee helped the owner of Humboldt Apartments install security cameras and lighting, fences and a new playground, and now the computer lab. The Neighborhood Networks center also has a classroom and separate space for Denver Police Department officers to make calls and complete paperwork. Police officers are natural role models for the children, and many of Denver's finest also serve as volunteers, helping train residents on the computers. Computer classes offered at the Sister Mary Lucy Lab include Microsoft Word 98, 2000 Excel, Access, and PowerPoint. All computers also have Internet access through high speed DSL modems.

The Sister Mary Lucy Lab joins more than 1,000 Neighborhood Networks centers across the nation that provide educational resources and technology and life skills training for residents of privately-owned HUD multifamily housing properties. With this initiative, HUD is empowering welfare recipients and other low-income persons to take advantage of new technology and become economically self-sufficient by acquiring skills important to succeed in today's economy. Neighborhood Networks also links children to new educational opportunities and enables senior citizens to expand their horizons by giving them access to email, information on health care and social services, and opportunities for life-long learning.