A learning centre for children and adults has received a new lease on life.

CARE (Children and Adults Reaching for Education) Computer Services, which came close to the end of its 14-year history last month, has found a home in the heart of Hamilton. And its is scheduled to officially open today.

Last month, founder Sen. Neletha Butterfield revealed to The Royal Gazette that a lack of funding and public bus transportation to the Southside, St.

David's area where CARE was located had crippled her efforts.

And she said she feared that if she could not find a central location for the learning centre soon, she would have to shut down the operation which began in the basement of her Pembroke home.

However, Sen. Butterfield -- who speaks for the Progressive Labour Party on education in the Upper House -- last week beamed with hope as she watched students settling in at CARE's new location, upstairs of dentist and former MP David Dyer's offices between Dundonald and Brunswick streets in Pembroke.

"This is a second chance,'' Sen. Butterfield said. "I was working through Allan Cooper Real Estate. I told him I needed a central place desperately.

When he came up with this, I thought it was ideal. It is really centrally located.'' The new facility also offered students more privacy, she added.

"There is a computer learning area, a classroom area, and learning room for those who require more privacy.'' And Sen. Butterfield praised parents and the students who remained with CARE throughout its ordeal.

"The students we have are great,'' she said of the 15 youngsters who attend the centre during the day for courses, including the General Education Diploma (GED) programme which is equivalent to the high school diploma.

"No one's fussing or fighting. They talk among themselves and help each other.'' She also acknowledged two of her adult students who visited the facility during the interview.

Barbara Cann basically orchestrated CARE's swift move from St. David's to Hamilton, Sen. Butterfield said.

"I owe her a huge debt,'' she added. "She did most of the moving. She's just doing a tremendous job. She even has students handing in their homework on time and she encourages the students.'' The other adult student, who did not want to be named, designed CARE's news bulletin about its relocation as part of a computer graphics assignment.

But Sen. Butterfield stressed that while CARE was more centrally located, it was not "out of the woods''.

She said the learning centre could use more volunteers and more financial support.

Other than a $50 donation and subsidising from St. Paul's AME Church for the travelling and boarding expenses of students who have to go overseas to write the GED exam, Sen. Butterfield said CARE had to rely on fees from students who could not always afford to pay on time.

"We will keep trying for charitable status and writing to the business community to let them know what we are doing,'' she added.

Sen. Butterfield met with Premier Pamela Gordon and Education Minister Jerome Dill last month to discuss the software which she believes can meet the needs of students who have trouble learning in the public school system and can "put them on their own learning path''.

Technical officers from the Education Ministry will evaluate the Choosing Success eight-module package which has been described as a revolutionary educational computer software aimed at inspiring delinquent and at risk students through the latest in computer imaging and sound.

Two years ago it received the prestigious Golden Apple award in the US for excellence and creativity in use of the media for educational purposes.