Guest Column: Spotlight on The Arc’s recreation center

Published 1:53 pm Saturday, November 9, 2013

Our Place Recreation Center is a social enrichment and skill-development center dedicated to serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our Place is Austin’s and Mower County’s premier educational, recreational and social facility for this very deserving population.

Located in Austin, Our Place serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from Austin and surrounding communities. We are open 5-6 days a week, and offer programs for youth, adults and senior citizens. Most of our members have some degree of mental retardation, however, many program participants have secondary disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Prader-Willi, Down Syndrome, visual and hearing impairments and/or emotional and behavioral disorders.

At Our Place, we believe that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities deserve more opportunities for education, skill building, friendships and fun. All our programs have a dual focus: they are designed so participants can acquire new skills and so they can have the chance to socialize with peers.

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For individuals who are affected by intellectual and developmental disabilities, Our Place represents a nurturing, welcoming second home of sorts. It is a place where they can feel they truly belong, and where new opportunities, new challenges and new friendships await them.

Do you want to have fun and be involved in the community? The Arc Mower County’s Our Place Recreation Center gives you opportunities to have fun, learn social skills and participate in community activities. Give yourself confidence a boost and develop lifelong friendships. These are some of the fun things you can do:

•Join friends for overnight, weekend or week-long excursions to places like water parks, camping or theme parks.

•Enjoy day-trips to nearby cities, fairs and festivals and tourist attractions.

•Attend a variety of events such as professional sporting events, movies, concerts, or dinner theater.

•Have fun in activities like camping, hiking, ballgames, swimming or miniature golf.

•Make friends at weekly and monthly activity nights at The Arc, including games, dinners, crafts and theme parties.