Senior citizens living in Noble Senior Village now have internet and email access thanks to the recent Neighborhood Network Center opening.

The new center will provide residents with the means to research topics of interests on the internet, to set up individual email accounts to maintain contact with friends and family, and an additional opportunity to socialize with other residents.

Noble Senior Village, a 26-unit apartment complex in Noble, Oklahoma, was built in 1986 using a Section 202 Direct Loan from HUD. Section 202 Direct Loans for new construction, rehabilitation or existing housing for the elderly and disabled were the precursor of the current 202 Program - Supportive Housing for Elderly, which offers non-profits an opportunity to compete annually for Capital Advance Funds (grants) from the Department.

A Noble Senior Village resident takes advantage of the new Neighborhood Network Center.

The impetus for starting the new Neighborhood Network Center came during an industry meeting hosted by the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency and the Oklahoma City Field Office last fall where the benefits gained from such a center were touted.

Noble's history began with the land run of April 22, 1889, when claim was laid to the 160-acre town site. The town was named in honor of Secretary of Interior John Noble, who was instrumental in opening the land for settlement.

Noble has the highest concentration of rose rocks in the world. Rose rock, or barite rose, is a reddish-brown sandy crystal of barium sulfate. The crystals form into petal-like clusters that resemble a rose. In honor of this status, Noble sets aside the first Saturday each May to celebrate its annual Rose Rock Festival.

Learn more about Neighborhood Networks (http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/mfh/nnw/nnwaboutnn.cfm).