Researching this article on a place called Verland, I thought, "This isn't a 900-word magazine article. It should be a book, or a movie." See if you agree. This is the story of three women on a difficult mission, but who were armed with an abundance of optimism and faith.

For twenty-five years, the Verland Foundation, Inc. has been in the vanguard of the manner of caring for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Verland is light years away from methods employed only decades ago. This non-profit organization continues to set the standards in its field, but was nothing more than a wing and a prayer a quarter of a century earlier. (Verland is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.)

In 1963 Carol Mitchell was a kid just out of high school when she landed a job at a mental health facility. It didn't take her long to recognize that benign neglect was everywhere. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy had organized a committee on mental retardation, but the fruits of that labor were still years away. What Carol saw in '63 was a boy named David. He was tied to a chair because his uncontrollable violent outbreaks often resulted in hurting himself. Professionals dismissed him as a "lost cause". Perhaps because Carol was not a professional she saw David as a special and loving challenge. Over the years of caring and creating mutual trust, David slowly but surely exhibited a profound change. But, Carol was only the first side of this three-sided story.

The second side of the triangle was the birth of a daughter named Verlinda to Nancy and Henry Chalfant in 1946. The newborn infant became gravely ill, and doctors began to talk about the effects on the brain from erithroblastosis, the name for Rh Factor incompatibility. Retesting Nancy Chalfant's blood showed she was Rh Negative instead of Rh Positive, as had been thought at her pre-natal physical. Verlinda would remain an infant for the rest of her life.

Andrew Hanzel was born in 1947, a victim of undiagnosed phenyketonuria (PKU) which can only be treated when caught during the first days of life. Without that early treatment most patients manifest a degree of mental retardation, usually severe. By the age of eleven, Andrew was requiring round-the-clock professional care, and was brought to the institution where Carol had been working. In order to stay close to her son, Andrew's mother, Theo, worked at the facility with 40 difficult boys. Among them was David, on whom Carol was still intensely focusing. Meanwhile, Nancy Chalfant and Theo Hanzel had become friends.

Carol was continuing to nurture David and often battling the traditional methods. While raising her own family, she went on to earn a degree in Psychology, and later her Masters in Education. During that time Carol, Nancy and Theo brainstormed for hours on end about forming a corporation with an exacting mission. That mission would be to build a whole new type of environment drastically different from the huge institutional facilities that too often were not much more than the warehousing of "patients".

The time eventually came when the three pioneers had it pretty much planned, but knew that uphill battles were lying ahead of them. Powerful political institutions had to give way to new thinking Attitudes of a whole society had to change. And there was the question of where? Exactly where would their ambitious dream and prayer be realized? They needed land, they needed - well, everything.

Carol learned of thirteen acres of prime property near Sewickley which was owned by a widow named Helen Grove. She was an activist who was concerned with young people at risk. When told of their plans, Mrs. Grove is said to have remarked, "I've been praying about what to do with this property. I believe this land belongs to God, and it would give me great joy to know that He wants me to use it in such a way. I would like to give it to you in honor of my husband, Don."

That rolling land is now the home of 200 individuals who live their lives with dignity. There are ten beautifully decorated homes, complete with real home furnishings including wallpapered rooms, comfortable chairs, and beds that look as if they belong in a home, not an institution. These homes dot the thirteen acres where roads and sidewalks wind and connect to any number of other good places on the campus. There's an activity center, a spacious gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool, even an innovative equestrian program complete with a big barn and seven horses ready to be ridden. Obviously, this type of village requires many volunteers and paid employees to keep it going. Finding good and reliable people is an on-going effort.

Much has changed for people with mental retardation since the 1960s including major advances in medicine, technology, research, education, and especially public understanding. All of that is reflected at Verland, plus an elegant, dignified, lifestyle. (Verland refers to those ten houses as state-of-the-heart.) They say that one person really can make a difference; little wonder, then, that three determined mothers were able to accomplish all of this.

Remember David, Andrew and Verlinda? Parts of their names will live on as long as there is Verland. You have only to search in the word: V-E-R-L-A-N-D.