“It is as grassroots as it comes.”
That’s Marianne Hill, president of the Better Together Playground Group in Willard. The nonprofit formed a couple of years ago. They’ve been working to build a playground with ramps, surfaces and play equipment that can be used by anyone, even if they use a mobility device like a wheelchair or experience some other disability.
“It accommodates the most common physical and sensory challenges," Hill says.
The current play equipment at Willard’s Jackson Street Park doesn’t have all of those advantages.
Hill explains, “You know, we currently have the tire mulch. I mean, you just simply cannot wheel a chair or a mobility device on that surface.”
Hill says the old equipment will be relocated and reused. The new inclusive playground is expected to finish construction by May 1. That’s thanks in part to a $150,000 check presented to the Willard Board of Aldermen recently. The new playground is expected to cost around $750,000 total. The Better Together group has been throwing fundraisers and pursuing grant applications for years.
“My heart is still near and dear — one — to inclusion, but two — just to getting children off of screens," says Hill, an occupational therapist.
She says Willard’s inclusive playground will likely be the largest of its kind in the area, serving multiple communities. Kids from very young ages through their teen years will be able to enjoy the place, regardless of disability status.
“Those children are equally worthy of having that respect, those opportunities for friendship," Hill says.
