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Disabled adults and members of the public now have access to a tranquil outdoor space at The Arc of Prince George's County in Largo.

The Arc's Bridges Day Program, which provides support for developmentally disabled adults and their families, celebrated the grand opening on Friday of a sunroom and a quarter-acre garden and outdoor space open to the public.

Several of the program's nearly 60 adults who have intellectual disabilities with chronic medical challenges soaked up the sunshine during the grand opening ceremony.

"When people come out, they kind of immediately go, ‘Ahh,'" said Ann Brady, the director of the Bridges Day Program. "This gets them out of the center and into the community. This is a wonderful way to do that. Some of our folks respond to nature. It's a quality-of-life enhancement for them."

Before the sunroom and garden were built, the outdoor space was only a concrete patio with a canvas tent overhead. Now, the garden is full of flowers, plants and trees. The grassy open space has a bench and is full of trees, surrounded by a sidewalk, and the sunroom allows adults who cannot go outside because of health reasons a glimpse of the outdoors.

A sprinkler system also was also installed.

The garden and sunroom, paid for by three grants, cost more than $230,000, Brady said. The Arc also contributed money. Brady declined to say how much money The Arc donated.

The TKF Foundation, an Annapolis-based nonprofit foundation, which funds outdoor spaces at places like prisons and restores vacant lots, donated $30,000; a federal Community Development Block Grant, given by the Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Prince George's County Division of Community Planning and Development, donated $129,000; and the Spring Creek Foundation, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization that has since closed, donated about $7,500 for about 15 trees and plants, Brady said.

"Just being in nature has a sacred element," said Mary Wyatt, the executive director of The TKF Foundation.

The Arc can apply for enhancement grants from The TKF Foundation over the next five years that would pay for additional plants and another bench, for example, Wyatt said.

The idea for the garden and sunroom came from Brady's predecessor in 2005, and the project began in 2007, Brady said.

Linda Barksdale, a Bridges program specialist, said the disabled adults enjoy being outdoors.

"Being outdoors, it just calms everybody down," she said.

Bridges Day Program administrator Robin Bracey said the adults can enjoy the garden or the sunroom, furnished with wicker furniture, which serves as an extension of the outdoors.

"I can see the difference. They're more alert," Bracey said.

E-mail Liz Skalski eskalski@gazette.net.