Tom O’Conner shyly pulls his baseball cap over his eyes when asked if he’s a good dancer.

“Yeah,” he said as he observes the dance floor, which is already full.

O’Conner, 32, has yet to ask his girlfriend, Rachel Hanson, 39, for the first dance. She waits patiently across the room in her long, floating skirt, perfect for twirling.

Finally, he crosses the room to his partner, and they slowly sway in an embrace under the disco ball.

Standing and watching is Chad Johnson, 15, a student at Austin High School. He claimed he isn’t a bad dancer, but wasn’t interested in the swing music the DJ was playing — he wanted to hear some rap.

“They love to dance,” agreed Kathy Huffman, president of The Arc of Mower County Board of Directors.

The Arc, started in Austin in 1950, is a facility for people with intellectual disabilities and their families to advocate, learn, grow and receive support through annual membership. Programs include the Special Olympics, summer camp, support groups, Our Place Recreation Center and more.

Clients of The Arc were treated to a catered, traditional holiday meal, bonding with friends and family and of course, the chance to shake a leg during the first Thanksgiving Luncheon and Dance on Saturday, Nov. 15.

It has been located in the Mower County Senior Center (MCSC) building on Third Avenue Northeast since the flood of 2004. But soon, clients of The Arc will have a new home.

Thanks to funding — $661,000 — from the Hormel Foundation, The Arc is expanding its facility by adding onto the east side of the MCSC building, across from Riverside Arena. They expect to break ground on the project next spring.

“We will be able to provide so many more things we haven’t been able to for four years,” said Dawn Helgeson, The Arc executive director.

“Our clients haven’t had a place to call home,” Huffman explained.

The approximately 4,600-square-foot addition will include office space, craft and recreation rooms, a kitchen for light meals, computer room and library/media room. The fact that The Arc will no longer have to accommodate the MCSC’s events will allow for longer hours to serve its more than 300 clients.

“We have a lot of clients who, when they are done with work, they love to come in,” Huffman said.

The Arc has many ideas in the works, like a support group for parents of teen clients.

“That’s such a scary age, because school is such a safe place,” said Huffman, also a parent of a client. “School is already talking about life after school.”

Staff are still meeting with the project’s architect, but the addition is still on schedule to break ground in 2009.

For more information about memberships, events, volunteering or donating, visit www.arcmowercounty.org.