Trip to Opportunity Village an eye-opener for UNLV football team

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, April 26, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

UNLV football player Kenny Brown was immediately attracted to the colorful art project.

Teammates Nate Carter and Warren Zeigler found interest in playing the drums.

The athletes, along with several teammates, coaches and school officials, visited the Opportunity Village Engelstad Family Campus on South Buffalo on Friday, leaving with a greater appreciation for the simple things in life. They saw firsthand the activities, like music and art, that are staples of the facility for persons with intellectual disabilities.

Touring the facility, which provides a place for rehabilitation and work, gave the players a different perspective on the perceived struggles they face as students and athletes.

"The excitement in the room for us was so genuine," Brown said. "Knowing we brought a little excitement to them today was heart-warming."

The team received a heroes' welcome, with several dressed in UNLV apparel and cheering as if the Rebels had just won a big game. More important were the smiles — from the players to the people they visited.

"You can pick the people off the ceiling right now. They are so jazzed to see you," Linda Smith, the chief development officer at Opportunity Village, told the group before the tour.

Opportunity Village, which has three campuses in Southern Nevada, services persons with an IQ less than 70, giving those individuals job training, a place to socialize and a sense of pride.

It has several contracts with Las Vegas-area businesses for a number of jobs, including paper shredding — it shreds 10,000 pounds of paper daily — and providing workers to serve meals at Nellis Air Force Base.

The $44 million Buffalo campus opened 18 months ago, and Smith told the UNLV team it was the most important group to tour the facility.

The feeling was mutual.

"The one thing I want (the players) to take from today is how fortunate they are to have the gifts they have," UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said.

Players posed for photos, signed autographs and talked about everything from football to their favorite type of music. Several, like Brown, took an interest in projects being worked on.

Art projects are one of the hidden gems at Opportunity Village. It produces items such as holiday cards, paintings and tile decoration, employing people with disabilities to complete the work.

Those items are sold throughout town, helping to provide a minimum salary of $3 daily for anyone who shows up at the facility for the day.

As Brown can attest, the work is of high quality. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound defensive back enjoys art in his free time and said he often relaxes by coloring.

"Knowing they have a disability, you don't expect much," Brown said. "But that was some good art in my opinion. I was really impressed."

One of the highlights of the tour included Carter and Zeigler playing the drums at a music station designed to develop motor skills. A therapist showed how he uses the beat of the drum to help the patients he works with.

The players weren't shy with the drums, quickly creating a beat that several in the room starting clapping to.

"Zeigler doesn't have any rhythm," Carter jokingly said.

The trip was more than fun and games. It gave the players a chance to reflect on how fortunate they are — playing Division I football, and attending college, is a privilege.

One-third of the 1,600 people serviced at Opportunity Village became mentally disabled after birth. One example was a college student at UNLV who was involved in a skiing accident.

It's a fact that was humbling for the players.

"It was an eye-opener for them," Hauck said.