A DAY IN THE PARK

Nordhoff Recreation Center

16244 Nordhoff St., Sepulveda

Size: 7.5 acres.

Facilities: Multipurpose room for disabled adults only, outdoor basketball court, soccer field, and children’s sandlot and swings.

Hours: Weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekends from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (or later depending on activities).

Information: (818) 893-1931.

To people passing by, Nordhoff Recreation Center looks like any other park in the San Fernando Valley. It has well-kept green grass, a children’s play area and an outdoor basketball court on a piece of land that once was a walnut ranch.

But to 200 severely physically disabled adults in the Valley, the center is their town. Many of them spend their days at the center, where park directors have allowed them to elect officers and exercise their independence.

“They don’t want a bunch of things that we’ve planned for them,” said Polly Schuster, a recreation therapist who has been park director for nearly nine years. “The best thing we can give them is their independence, the social skills and personal skills that will allow them to one day mainstream into society.”

The program, which often includes outside activities chosen by the members, is extremely popular among disabled adults, and there is a waiting list to join the program, Schuster said.

“We hate to turn people away,” she said. “But this is just one of those places the city needs more of.”

While the ranch house is used exclusively for disabled adults, the outdoor park area is open to the public.