It was a wonderful time
Are you sorry you missed the Party in the Park for Bennett's Village?
On Sunday 27 April 2025, the world had a chance to welcome Bennett’s Village to the pantheon of accessible play spaces. Yay!
I was there. and it was wonderful to see many folks there. Here are some photos.
The welcoming signage.
The University of Virginia volleyball players playing in the park before providing lessons to visitors.
The new and cool butterfly bench
I am awaiting an article from the fabulous Terri Allard who reports for local PBS Inside-Out.
Dear Dear Readers, do you have news about accessible park spaces in your neighborhoods? Please let us know what’s happening in Australia, Canada, India, Taiwan…, and other areas on Earth.
Hey John, we have an Inclusive park here in Wilmington. There are two parts to it. One side is for very young children and toddlers and the other side is for older children. Everything has ramps for access or is closer to the ground so someone in a wheelchair can access it to play. There are several types of inclusive swings, including one that allows a wheelchair to roll right up in it and be fastened down so the person can swing like the other kids. It's such a great place and it is used a lot during the spring, summer, and fall by all sorts of kids and families.
Hi John! I'm new to Substack (and one of the lurkers you referenced earlier this week). By way of introduction, I 1) am a real person and 2) have two kiddos with physical disabilities. I'm not sure how I landed here, but I started reading this as a way to organize my scattered thinking on what is happening in Washington and the broader culture around accessibility, Title 1, etc. The strange irony is that in some ways, I have never felt MORE momentum on improving accessibility where I live than this past year. It's bizarre to see what's happening nationally and good to be reminded of the power of local change.
Anyway, you asked for pictures, and I have none yet. But here in Boston, we applied for and got a $900K+ Community Preservation Act grant to make the under-5 playground at my sons' school, a dual-language inclusion school, fully accessible. This is a huge win for students, but the extra great thing is that the playground will be open after school hours to the entire community.
Thanks for spotlighting great stories like this, too, especially when it can feel like the winds are changing.