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Communities rally support for
full access to recreational opportunities
November 1, 2007
- A young woman enjoys a public nature trail and learning
about the native species and waterways that surround
the area. A father chases after a young one enjoying
a slide and jungle gym at a neighborhood park. While
these scenes would appear ordinary, they are in fact
extraordinary. The woman is blind and her enjoyment
is enhanced with seeing impaired pathways and audio
descriptions. The father is wheel chair bound and is
able to follow his child given a playground that provides
universal access to people of all abilities. With financial
assistance from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Illinois
parks will be transforming themselves into the extraordinary.
Four communities have been awarded $1.5 million in matching
grants to enhance and expand recreational facilities
into fully accessible opportunities for people of all
abilities.
The money is part of the $15 million
Access to Recreation project that began last year in
Michigan, and expanded to Indiana, Ohio and Illinois,
under the direction of the Council of Michigan Foundations.
Valerie Lies, President and CEO of the Donors Forum,
who will coordinate the Access to Recreation work in
Illinois, explains “The grants, which are awarded
to community foundations, help forge an important partnership
between the foundations and their local park districts,
special recreation associations, local groups and citizens
who want to expand recreational opportunities for all.”
Recipients of the Illinois grants are
Community Foundation of East Central Illinois (based
in Champaign), The DuPage Community Foundation, The
Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation and the Sangamon
County Community Foundation. Projects to be funded through
the grants include accessible fishing piers and playgrounds,
sensory gardens and accessible nature trails with interpretative
signage.
These first four projects are just
the beginning. Each community foundation that received
a grant will be seeking support from areas businesses,
civic associations, and the general public to fund an
Access to Recreation endowment that will be used to
strengthen and expand universally accessible recreational
opportunities in their community. In addition, other
community foundations throughout the state will be in
conversation with their local park districts and special
recreation departments to advance similar opportunities
in their communities. Two members of the Donors Forum’s
Access to Recreation Committee, Lucy Murphy, Executive
Director of The Community Foundation of Decatur/Macon
County and William Wald, CEO of the Illinois Parks and
Recreation Association, concur that park districts in
cooperation with their local community foundation can
form a powerful alliance to make universal accessibility
the norm for every recreational opportunity in Illinois.
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