HUD's Neighborhood Networks Initiative is working "magic" across the nation, and last week, working in partnership with the Magic Johnson Foundation, Hewlett Packard, Corel, Bank One, DHL and Microsoft, the Department and these generous partners dedicated the Magic Johnson and Hewlett Packard Inventor Center at the HUD-sponsored Neighborhood Networks center in Houston's Cleme Manor Apartments.

HUD had established a Neighborhood Networks community learning center in the 284-unit subsidized complex in 1998, but the new Inventor Center provides additional computer equipment to improve educational and computer literacy opportunities for the residents. Magic Johnson himself dedicated the Center.

Cleme Manor, a low-income, 100 percent HUD-subsidized apartment complex near downtown Houston, is owned by the Cleme Manor Charitable Trust, a non-profit corporation created by the Church of the Living God of Dallas. The Foundation and other Inventor Center partners provided the Neighborhood Networks center with an additional 20 computers and monitors, complete software packages, a local area network server and new printers and copiers.

Neighborhood Networks is a community-based initiative created by HUD in 1995 that forms public/private partnerships to establish multiservice community learning centers that bring computer access and lifelong learning to low- and moderate-income residents living in HUD-assisted housing. There are currently more than 1,100 Neighborhood Networks centers operating in housing properties throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

Although Johnson is universally known for his illustrious 13-year career in the National Basketball Association, he has redefined himself as a businessman who focuses his efforts on revitalizing neglected communities, and providing quality entertainment and services.