Lexington, Kentucky is deep in the heart of the Bluegrass Region, site of the annual Kentucky Festival of the Bluegrass, and "a little bit of heaven" for bluegrass music lovers. Lexington also is the home of new hope and opportunity for a group of persons with mental retardation and/or developmental disabilities thanks to Arc of the Bluegrass, Inc. This week, Arc Apartments in Lexington is celebrating Neighborhood Networks Week - but also is being recognized for bringing a better way of life to men and women who want nothing more than the freedom and security that all Americans desire.

The recent opening of the Neighborhood Networks Learning Center at Arc of the Bluegrass' Arc Apartments marks Kentucky's 30th center and the first Neighborhood Networks Computerized Learning Center in a development that is home to persons with developmental or mental disabilities. The apartments' construction was financed through a Section 811 capital advance and the project receives ongoing rental assistance to make it affordable for the residents. Arc Apartments opened its doors to clients in the fall of 2001, providing 15 independent living units.

Some of the celebrants at the opening of the Neighborhood Networks Computer Learning Center: John, a resident; Arc board member John Maher; executive director Barbara Ellerbrook; Mary, a resident; and HUD Multifamily Housing division director Charlie Shive. But the real fun for John and Mary was using the new computers with the help of an Arc Apartments staff member.

Less than a year later, Arc Apartments celebrated the opening of its Neighborhood Networks Computerized Learning Center. The mission of the learning center is "To provide persons with mental retardation opportunities to chose and realize individual learning goals." The center provides access to literacy programs currently unavailable in Lexington to this group of people with special learning needs. The focus of the learning center is to provide an introduction to the computer, job skill development, Internet access, social services access, basic adult education and recreation opportunities.

The center was made possible through a partnership that Arc of the Bluegrass created with Verizon Communications, the United Way, and the Bluegrass Community Foundation. The center continues to seek other sources of funding.

Arc of the Bluegrass, Inc., has had many success stories and touched countless lives since it was established in 1956. It first began developing housing using HUD funds in the late 1980's: today the organization manages 37 housing units in four different Lexington complexes: Ashland Apartments with 8 units; Spindletop Apartments with 8 units; Arc Apartments with 15 units; and Arc Estates, which will open mid-August 2002, with 6 units.