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Welcome to Unlimited Parenting, where we discuss having children with disabilities or special

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health care needs.

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My name is Allison and I am here with EIPL's Executive Director, Angela Lindig, and today

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we are going to be talking about the 20th anniversary of Adventure Island Playground

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here in Meridian, Idaho, and inclusion and accessibility.

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So I want to get started by asking you, Angela, can you tell us the history, the story of

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Adventure Island?

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The story, sure.

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The story was a complete accident, as most things are when we do these things.

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I was in the car on a road trip with my husband and my two kids at the time who were three

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and two, and I was, so 20 years ago, right, longer than 20 years ago because of when the

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whole thing started, it was, I was reading a Family Circle magazine.

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So that just totally...

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You just dated yourself.

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Right, completely, yeah, because nobody had phones back then.

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You looked at maps and read magazines on road trips.

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Those are lost skills now.

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Maybe, yeah.

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So anyway, I was looking at a Family Circle magazine and there was an article in there

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on a playground that had been built back east, and they were describing a family very much

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like my own.

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They had two kids and one had a disability and one did not, and they had this playground,

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and I don't even know if they were part of the creation of it, but they were featuring

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this family and they talked about how they had a place where they could all go.

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Their child that didn't have a disability could run and play and jump and do the things

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that he was typically doing, and their child who did have a disability could totally access

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the entire playground.

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And I said to my husband, oh, that'd be great if we had something like that here.

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And that was kind of the end of the conversation for a little bit, but it kept sticking in

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my head.

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And just to back up a little bit, my daughter didn't take her first steps till she was almost

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five.

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Oh, wow.

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My son is 16 months younger than her.

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So those first five years of their lives were we took Amber to therapy and we took Ryan

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to parks because that's what he could do.

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And we would take her to parks.

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And first, she did start walking with a walker, a little pediatric walker, but those only

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go so far at a typical playground.

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So we would hit the bark.

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Yeah, we hit the bark mulch and then her walker would tip forward and she'd sit down and she'd

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be angry.

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And it was really kind of depressing, right?

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Yeah.

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Imagine how frustrating that must have been for her.

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Oh, absolutely.

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Yeah.

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So, you know, it just wasn't anything that we could really do as a family, even though

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that bark mulch is considered accessible.

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I did not know that.

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It's an ADA accessible material.

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I trip on that.

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It's not good for anybody with a mobility issue, for sure.

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I started talking about the playground to people and mostly I was talking about it because,

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one, I just thought it was such a great idea.

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But two, I thought that perhaps it already existed because aren't there no new ideas,

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right?

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Because of course, why wouldn't it?

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Why wouldn't we want to be inclusive and include everybody?

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Must already be out there.

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And it turns out it wasn't.

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And so time went by and then one day the Idaho Statesman ran an article on another playground

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that had been built that was accessible.

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And I think it was an indoor playground, just a really small structure, and down in Florida.

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And I don't know why they ran that article.

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They picked it up from the Associated Press or something, maybe filler space.

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But my next door neighbor, a good friend of mine, was a fundraising professional and she

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came over to my house and this thing, I think, was $200,000.

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And she said, we can do that.

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And I said, okay, let's do that.

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That's a lot of good energy.

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Right.

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That's what you needed.

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Yeah.

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So from there, we gathered people around my kitchen table for brainstorming.

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And I cold called people, people who said, oh, so-and-so is interested in parks and so-and-so

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is interested in kids.

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And I didn't know half the people at my kitchen table.

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It was very grassroots.

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It was very grassroots.

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And the city of Meridian got involved very quickly because former Mayor Tammy DeVeard

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was on Meridian City Council at the time.

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And she was one of the people that I was told I should talk to because she was very interested

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in parks and recreation for, and just families in Idaho.

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We brainstormed, and then from there, we held focus groups and did big dreaming and design

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meetings, which was really entertaining.

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My husband and I, in a recent clean out of our garage, found the big poster boards.

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We equipped everybody with big poster boards and construction paper and tape and glue and

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markers.

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What a time capsule.

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Yeah.

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We completely designed our dream playgrounds.

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That's what we did.

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We said, if money is no object and if this equipment doesn't even exist, let's just pretend

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it does.

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Just put down your dreams.

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And that's really where it started.

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And then folks started to get involved.

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We had the land group, landscape architects were one of the first to jump in and create

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an actual design for us based on our dreaming and focus groups.

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And from there, we started taking bids on equipment and really, truly designing what

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the whole thing would look like.

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It turned out that it was $1.2 million.

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Slightly over the 200,000, right?

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A little tiny bit more.

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And it wasn't easy because it was a novel concept for a lot of people to understand

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universal design, universal access.

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A lot of people thought, oh, that's just that part, that's going to be just for those kids.

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And so there was a lot of educating that had to take place.

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But it wasn't just that, right?

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It was a different time.

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This was right around 2001, wasn't it?

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Yes.

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So when we started, once we got...

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So in the year 2000, we really were doing all the dreaming and designing.

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We were gearing up for fundraising in 2001.

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We were ready to go, had a plan, a strategy.

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We've got to raise a lot of money.

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We didn't know we had to raise that much money, to be honest, because if I had known that,

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I probably would have run for the hills.

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Then 9-11 happened.

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And then we weren't talking about parks.

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We weren't talking about anything as a country, as a world.

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We weren't talking about things that seemed so fun, happy.

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It was such an awful time that we put everything on hold and concentrated on the things that

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needed to be concentrated at that time.

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And then by spring, we started to have conversations again.

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So in 2002, we started our fundraising around the fall of 2002, and then going into 2003,

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we were finally ready to do the main play structure, which we did as a community build.

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And again, talk about a different time.

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We did all of this with the City of Meridian without attorneys, without any paperwork.

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There's no red tape.

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No, this was just a group of volunteers and parents coming together in a public-private

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partnership on our words, really.

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And I will never forget the community build day.

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We had over 300 volunteers come out that day.

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Wow.

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Yeah, it was magical.

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That's the only way to put it.

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It was magical.

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But there were over 300 people, people I didn't know.

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They came out in teams.

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Everybody got T-shirts.

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People divided and conquered.

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It was absolutely incredible, and the whole thing was built in a day.

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That main play structure, not the whole park, but the main play structure.

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And there was entertainment.

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We had amazing sponsorships at the time.

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It just was, there was food.

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There were games for kids.

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There was childcare.

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That was just beautiful.

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How did you do that?

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How did you drum up so much excitement?

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How did you get...

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We had amazing committee members.

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People wanted to be a part of this, and that really became evident with the build day.

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When we had...

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I don't want to start naming names of our...

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Because I don't have a list in front of me, but there is actually a rock and a big stone

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out there at Adventure Island that lists all of the contributors, people that donated their

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time, people that were on the committee, the people that gave big, big donations of funding

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to make that happen.

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Even the community build day itself took considerable sponsorships.

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But I will say, of our other partners, we did have one other main partner, and that

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was St. Alphonse's Foundation.

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So the City of Meridian, St. Al's, and the volunteer group, along with so many other

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people, I've always said one person doesn't just do this.

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You have to have a lot of committed people to this process.

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And it just came together.

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And it didn't feel like it was going to, to be honest.

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The day before, the day before, we had not poured the concrete.

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So there's a large amount of concrete that must go down before you can put a play structure

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on top of it.

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And people were asking, do we want to postpone?

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Do you want to postpone?

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And I said, we cannot postpone.

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We have to do this.

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At the end of August, we're going to run out of weather.

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We've got all these volunteers registered and ready to go.

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We have all this ready to go.

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We're going to do it.

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We poured that concrete at somewhere between 4 and 5 p.m. the night before and held our

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breath and crossed our fingers.

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Please dry, please dry.

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Exactly.

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Cure, cure.

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And it did.

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It did.

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We were out there by 630 in the morning and the build started around, I don't know, between

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7 and 9.

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And that's not a sign.

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Yeah, it just was meant to be.

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So and then from there, there were a lot of other pieces that still had to go be put in

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place.

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We have rubberized poured in place surfacing instead of bark mulch.

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That though got poured on the last sunny weekend and then it was vandalized.

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I know.

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Right?

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I remember that part of the story.

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Well, it wasn't a joyful time.

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That's true.

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That didn't go on the rock.

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No, apparently some teenagers did what teenagers they went in during the night and trampled

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over it.

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And it was several thousand dollars worth of damage and it delayed the whole grand opening

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and everything.

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So because then we had to go back in and take it out and repour it.

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And so but it was all taken care of.

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And then again, volunteers came out and stayed in their campers in the parking lot to make

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sure that no one could do it again.

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Yes.

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Oh, what a community.

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Amazing.

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It was amazing.

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But that delayed the grand opening.

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But ultimately, the grand opening was in November of 2004.

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So while we did the community build in August and we were ready to go, the grand opening

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was in November and it was a cold, cloudy, wonderful day.

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And filled with people and kids enjoying the playground.

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Yeah, the weather wasn't going to keep people away from the playground, right?

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No.

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So tell me about Amber on the playground.

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How was that?

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How was how was watching your daughter access the playground that you had spent all of this

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time building?

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Well, she she loved she's 28 years old and she still loves it.

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But you know, part of that is it's intergenerational.

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And so the playground has musical equipment and a water splash pad and a rock climbing

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structure.

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And then there's a ton of imaginative play.

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So the main play structure is actually designed around on one side, it's a spaceship and on

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the other side, it's an actual boat.

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And then there's the toddler structure across the sidewalk that is a castle.

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And so there's there's just so many elements that go into this that made it something that

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grandparents and parents and children and everybody could interact.

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And so at 28, we still love to go out there.

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There's still it's still just as exciting.

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But more exciting for me is when I go out there without my family or when I get to see

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other people just enjoying that.

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And when I get to see I mean, disabilities frequently are hidden, as we both know.

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Yeah.

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But when you do see people who do have very obvious disabilities, fully enjoying themselves

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and having that time with their families and friends to just be that's that's worth everything.

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That was the whole two million dollars paid off right in that one moment.

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Oh, okay.

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What point two million dollars.

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Also, it's going to be one of those fish stories every time I say it.

249
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,120
I remember when the park was five million dollars.

250
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,520
It was a 10 million dollar endeavor.

251
00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:09,520
We yeah.

252
00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:15,560
The other very cool thing is we always hoped that we wouldn't have to do that education.

253
00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:16,560
What is that?

254
00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:17,560
Yeah.

255
00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:18,560
You know, universal design.

256
00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:19,560
Who is this for?

257
00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:20,560
Why do we have to do this?

258
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:21,560
Who needs this?

259
00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,720
Does anybody is this really going to impact people?

260
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,120
Do we care?

261
00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,480
I had somebody actually say to me one time, this won't shock you.

262
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,600
But they said, I don't know why you'd put all that money into something.

263
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:32,840
I never see people.

264
00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,840
I never see kids with disabilities playing at playgrounds.

265
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:36,840
I wonder why.

266
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:37,840
Shocking, right?

267
00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,400
So but it did spark a movement.

268
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:48,120
And we now have universally accessible playgrounds all over our state and not just in Idaho,

269
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:54,400
but in Idaho, right after ours, there was a volunteer group in Idaho Falls that created

270
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,640
one smaller scale, but universally accessible.

271
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:05,880
And then Brooklyn's playground is in Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene has increased accessibility

272
00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:06,880
in their parks.

273
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:08,240
You'll see accessible swings.

274
00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:10,240
That's another thing we do have out there, too.

275
00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:17,800
The big accessible swings, the standard swings, toddler swings, and even a tire swing that

276
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,100
spins because vestibular motion is good for kids.

277
00:15:21,100 --> 00:15:23,960
And also my husband really wanted that.

278
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,160
Which is shocking because he gets really carsick and nauseous.

279
00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:28,160
I don't know why he wants it.

280
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:29,360
He's seen people enjoy it.

281
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,000
And he was like, no park can be had without this.

282
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,000
That's right.

283
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:34,000
Yeah.

284
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:35,000
So it did it.

285
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:40,440
And then I can say, honestly, the city of Boise now and Meridian have both made it part

286
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:46,760
of their strategic plan to make all parks accessible to all.

287
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:48,120
And that is exciting.

288
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:49,120
Yes.

289
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:55,800
I also want to circle back and make a distinction that it wasn't EIPOL that built the playground.

290
00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:57,840
It was Angela.

291
00:15:57,840 --> 00:15:59,480
It was Angela and her past.

292
00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:00,480
Yes.

293
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:01,480
Yeah.

294
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:08,440
But it was not through any kind of federal funding from EIPOL or an EIPOL dream.

295
00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,040
This was before you'd even...

296
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,960
This was before that I was even a part of this organization.

297
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:20,400
Sure, I am going to throw out a name who gets no recognition whatsoever, but Jennifer Bach

298
00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:22,920
was our right hand.

299
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,760
The two of us really, the community build, she led that whole effort.

300
00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:32,800
I get to be the voice and the spokesperson and the name that people associate with all

301
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:33,800
of this.

302
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:39,360
But at the end of the day, like I said, there was no one person, no single person can do

303
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:40,360
this.

304
00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:47,880
She was so important in the community build and spearheading of getting volunteers and

305
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:48,880
where are all the people?

306
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:49,880
Where did they come from?

307
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:55,280
I can tell you that she and her family are just amazing humans.

308
00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:59,880
And if you need something, they are first in line to say, yep, I'm there.

309
00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:00,920
I'm there to help.

310
00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:06,560
But Jennifer did work for EIPOL right around 2000 to 2000.

311
00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:07,560
I did not know that.

312
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:08,560
Right?

313
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:15,080
But then when she had gone to work for EIPOL and she and I actually went to Chicago in

314
00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:22,240
2002 to attend a community build project through an organization called Kaboom.

315
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:28,280
They did at the time, they do community builds and they taught us by the two of us going

316
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:34,920
out to that experience and being a part of that, they taught us really what it was going

317
00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,360
to take to do it here.

318
00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:45,600
Now we found out later that we were the largest community build ever done in a day.

319
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:46,600
We didn't really.

320
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:47,600
Wow.

321
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:48,600
I know.

322
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,960
At the time in Little Meridian, Idaho, we had like, I think our population was around

323
00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,400
40 or 50,000 at the time and we've grown quite a bit.

324
00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:57,400
Right.

325
00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:58,400
Right.

326
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,200
So yeah, Jennifer was instrumental in making that happen because she went with me and we

327
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:04,400
got our hands dirty.

328
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:10,800
We went out there and built a playground somewhere in Chicago area and the trust, the trust that

329
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,520
the city had in us.

330
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,720
Yeah, that's a really good point.

331
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:20,080
It was just your average everyday citizen just signing their name to help.

332
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,180
Couple of moms saying, yep, we can do this, but isn't that how it usually goes?

333
00:18:24,180 --> 00:18:25,440
Everything is from the moms.

334
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:26,440
Or dad, you know, parents.

335
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:27,440
Yes, the parents.

336
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,440
Parents.

337
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:34,920
So fast forward 10 years, you build the playground and then you have a huge resource fair.

338
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:40,840
So not only have you and your volunteers given this playground to the community, you bring

339
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,760
them all back in a celebration with how many vendors and resources did you have?

340
00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:46,760
At the 10 year.

341
00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:51,400
So we did a resource fair a couple of times early on when we were still developing the

342
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:56,400
playground in fact, because it was, I mean, it took until 2009 to fully build it out,

343
00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,880
have all of the components completely done, even grass and trees.

344
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:02,480
I mean, we, and that's a good point.

345
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:03,480
I don't even think about that.

346
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,440
Little thing that we didn't, you know, people were asking all the time when there's there

347
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,880
going to be benches and maybe make a contribution.

348
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:10,880
We'll get benches.

349
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:11,880
Right.

350
00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,560
So anyway, there, it took a while to build out the whole thing.

351
00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,880
So we did resource fairs a couple of times early on just to create that awareness.

352
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,480
And then in yes, 10 years ago, we did the 10 year anniversary and resource fair.

353
00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,080
There were about 40 booths and.

354
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,480
That's more than any resource fair I've ever had as a parent as a.

355
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,440
Well, we're not, we're about half that right now registered.

356
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:40,560
So I think we had 19 as of yesterday morning and we are hopeful that we will get closer

357
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,960
to at least 30 resources come and go.

358
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:45,320
They change over the years.

359
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,640
Some resources are sometimes just small support groups.

360
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:56,400
Others might be a larger, a therapeutic provider of some sort and everything in between.

361
00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:02,720
So we are really excited about the resources that we have already registered right now,

362
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,120
but there is room.

363
00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:06,640
We will take registrations.

364
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,080
I have room for 40.

365
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,920
We know we can, we've seen it.

366
00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:10,920
We know we can.

367
00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:11,920
We've done it before.

368
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:13,720
We line the playground with the booths.

369
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:15,740
We ask those people with tables and chairs.

370
00:20:15,740 --> 00:20:20,760
And then if people have their tents or things like that, that they want to bring to for

371
00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:22,880
some shade, that's great.

372
00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:23,960
They're welcome to do that.

373
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:30,480
But yeah, we will, we will hopefully get 30 to 40 folks out there and families can just

374
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:38,760
come and go to from booth to booth, find something that is of interest to them and enjoy the

375
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:39,760
playground.

376
00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:40,760
It's August.

377
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,080
I think that you don't get too hot, right?

378
00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,240
I think that that's very, it's very much your theme.

379
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:55,240
It's your pattern for this playground has been kind of that idea of we don't forget.

380
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:56,840
We built it.

381
00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,660
There were some setbacks, but we don't forget about it.

382
00:20:59,660 --> 00:21:04,680
Maybe the dream started off a little, I don't know if this is something that is going to

383
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,440
be successful, but I'm not going to give up on it.

384
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:07,880
I'm not going to forget about it.

385
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:09,320
There's been resource fairs over the years.

386
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:10,320
I'm not going to give up.

387
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:11,320
I'm not going to forget about it.

388
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,440
It was the big 10 year one and now we're talking about coming back for the 20th year and to

389
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,080
have a resource fair.

390
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,760
It's like, you won't let this playground die.

391
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,280
And I don't mean that in a negative way.

392
00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:23,640
I think it's great.

393
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:28,480
Remember, those of us who forget history are those that are doomed to repeat it.

394
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:29,960
Why do we have this playground?

395
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:31,120
Why is it so important?

396
00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,560
Why is it a necessity in all of our communities?

397
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:41,240
And for the new families that are just going out there for the first time today, they don't

398
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,080
know that history, that this was just a couple of moms.

399
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,600
With a magazine and a dime.

400
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:48,600
Right.

401
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:49,600
Yeah.

402
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,800
And just because my name's on a rock doesn't mean that we were just these.

403
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:58,000
Sometimes you see that and you're like, oh, somebody rich must have donated some money.

404
00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,640
That was definitely not the case.

405
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,040
It was just...

406
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,840
It was your blood, sweat and tears, not your money.

407
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:04,840
Yeah.

408
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:05,840
It was a lot.

409
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:06,840
It was a lot.

410
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:07,840
And actually that's important too.

411
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,320
The whole committee was volunteer.

412
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:11,320
We had a paycheck.

413
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,480
None of us doing it had a paycheck.

414
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:14,480
So it's just...

415
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,520
I tell people all the time that I was the town beggar.

416
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:19,600
I just ran around asking...

417
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,040
People ran when they saw me.

418
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:22,980
They said, oh no, she's coming for money.

419
00:22:22,980 --> 00:22:24,440
You were out here cold calling.

420
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,300
I was cold calling people.

421
00:22:26,300 --> 00:22:27,300
It was that important.

422
00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:28,460
And no, we can't forget.

423
00:22:28,460 --> 00:22:30,200
We cannot forget this at all.

424
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:31,600
It's too important.

425
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,220
Universal access.

426
00:22:33,220 --> 00:22:35,240
It shouldn't be even...

427
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:36,640
You should never have to even say it.

428
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:37,640
Right?

429
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:38,640
It should just be the norm.

430
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,080
And I think we're closer to that.

431
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,700
But I don't want us to forget what it took to get us there.

432
00:22:44,700 --> 00:22:45,880
And I don't want to lose it.

433
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:53,240
And one of the things that was agreed upon from the get go was that the playground would...

434
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:59,640
The city would own it and maintain it and keep it accessible into perpetuity.

435
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,400
That was the whole agreement.

436
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:03,400
They are...

437
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,720
In fact, I've had several meetings with them leading up to this because they are partnering

438
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,640
with us on this event.

439
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,280
And I'm excited that we'll have former mayor Tammy DeVeard talking.

440
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:20,760
We will have our current mayor, Robert Simison, offering a proclamation that day.

441
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,060
And our parks and rec director will be there to talk.

442
00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:30,720
And they have already said, typically equipment needs to get replaced every 15 to 20 years.

443
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,640
And we're at 20 years on this equipment and it's still holding up pretty well.

444
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,840
But it's probably within about five years or so that equipment is going to need to get

445
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:39,840
replaced.

446
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:45,360
And so potentially there may be a need for some fundraising even to make sure that we

447
00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:46,720
are...

448
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,120
And maybe even some...

449
00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:50,120
Maybe not, hopefully not.

450
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:51,120
But you never know.

451
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:57,080
As people come and go, there could be a need for some oversight to make sure that it remains

452
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:58,720
fully accessible.

453
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:04,720
It doesn't take much for when we're not living it and it's not our personal experience for

454
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:10,640
us to not fully understand what something needs to look like or be included.

455
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,960
And I say that without...

456
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,600
So going into this project, I only had my experiences.

457
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:18,860
I had a two and a three year old.

458
00:24:18,860 --> 00:24:25,300
That is not a lot of experience to know what is universal and what is impacting people.

459
00:24:25,300 --> 00:24:29,140
And some of the people that were involved early on, Kelly Buckland, who was our state

460
00:24:29,140 --> 00:24:34,600
independent living council executive director at the time and then moved on to Washington

461
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:41,120
DC for the national council, I was told to call him and I had never met him.

462
00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:46,320
I did not know that he used a wheelchair and that he at the time had a...

463
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,520
I think his son was three at the time.

464
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:49,520
Oh, how perfect.

465
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,400
Yeah, we were just talking on the phone and he tells me halfway through the conversation,

466
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:59,880
well, I use a wheelchair and we don't go to parks as a family because we can't...

467
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:06,560
If I get stuck or if my child gets stuck at the top of a slide, I can't help them.

468
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:07,560
Oh my gosh.

469
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:08,560
Right?

470
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:09,560
Yeah, I never...

471
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:10,560
None of us thought...

472
00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:11,560
We didn't think about it.

473
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:12,560
Perspective.

474
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:13,560
Exactly.

475
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:15,840
That's when I was like, whoo, light bulbs.

476
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,800
We've got to make sure this is intergenerational, that we are really looking at people from

477
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:25,240
a lot of different abilities, disabilities and accessibility.

478
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:30,560
One time I was giving a presentation to a group and a girl came up to me afterwards,

479
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:36,280
a woman came up to me and she said, did you know that kids who use Cochlear implants can't

480
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,880
use the vinyl slides, the standard plastic slides?

481
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:40,880
Really?

482
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,560
It will cause electrocution, shock.

483
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:44,560
Yeah.

484
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:45,800
And so I had no idea.

485
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,120
I didn't know.

486
00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:48,580
We were not done.

487
00:25:48,580 --> 00:25:53,960
We had firmed up the whole equipment design, the main play structure design at that point,

488
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:55,960
but it hadn't been purchased.

489
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,560
It wasn't set.

490
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:03,840
And so we went back to the city and to the vendor, the playground vendor and said, how

491
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:09,840
can we shape this to make sure that we have one, at least one metal slide so that kids

492
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,960
with Cochlear implants can access the slide?

493
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,800
And it's hard to find metal slides these days, right?

494
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:17,800
Right.

495
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:18,800
And they've been deprecated.

496
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,840
Well, because you definitely need to make sure that they're not in the blazing sun,

497
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:23,840
right?

498
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,760
I mean, those of us who grew up several years ago know all about metal slides and making

499
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,160
eggs and cook on those cars, right?

500
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,800
So anyway, we did.

501
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:39,240
So I learned so much about playgrounds and fall zones and you have to have this much

502
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,080
room for a slide to be able to have a landing point.

503
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:49,160
And so anyway, there is in fact a metal slide at Adventure Island as a result of that.

504
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,240
So we don't know anything more than our own experiences.

505
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:58,020
So we want to make sure that as we move forward, if there is new equipment, if there are new

506
00:26:58,020 --> 00:27:03,520
people that we don't lose that fully universal accessibility.

507
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,800
Because people might look at it and think, well, oh, a metal slide, it's time to update

508
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:08,800
that.

509
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:13,200
And they might think that or they'll think, well, do we really need all this?

510
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:14,720
This has got to be accessible.

511
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:22,960
I have been to parks where they did an amazing job trying to make them more accessible, but

512
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:24,840
missed the mark.

513
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:31,280
And I've looked at that and thought, oh, what's the phrase that we use?

514
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,160
Nothing about us without us.

515
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:34,160
Someone didn't get asked.

516
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:35,160
Somebody didn't get asked.

517
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:36,160
Yeah.

518
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:41,240
So there are people who live it who have the experiences for their input.

519
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,440
And then you work around that.

520
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,360
Doesn't mean you're going to have everything.

521
00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:51,440
Universal design doesn't mean that all portions are accessible to all people.

522
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,720
That's not what universal design is.

523
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:58,960
It is that they are accessible to all people in some way.

524
00:27:58,960 --> 00:27:59,960
Yeah.

525
00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:00,960
Yeah.

526
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:01,960
It's the same.

527
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,720
We have escalators and stairs and elevators.

528
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,880
Everybody can get to the top floor in whatever modality they need.

529
00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:08,880
Yeah, perfect.

530
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:09,880
Yeah.

531
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:14,800
I think that that is one of my favorite parts of your story is that not only did you give

532
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:20,960
this wonderful gift to the community, but how much you learned in doing it.

533
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,120
Well, and then I landed here.

534
00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:25,440
Is that how you got here?

535
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:26,440
I think so.

536
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:27,440
Yeah.

537
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:28,440
Yes.

538
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:34,320
After getting involved in the playground, I started serving on various committees.

539
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,400
And one of the committees that I got invited to apply to be a part of was the State Independent

540
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:39,400
Living Council.

541
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:40,640
Go figure.

542
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:45,800
And so I was involved in that council for six years and I was the council chair and

543
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:54,240
really learned about independent living and accessibility from so many amazing mentors

544
00:28:54,240 --> 00:29:01,760
and self-advocates and other parents and just partners in the community that it moved me

545
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,000
into my work here in working with families.

546
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,440
That was 15 years ago.

547
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:07,440
Wow.

548
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:08,440
This summer.

549
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:13,840
So just as the playground finished in 2009, I came to work at EIPL as we were wrapping

550
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:18,480
up and two years later I became director here.

551
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:19,880
We've all been better off for it.

552
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:20,880
Oh, thank you.

553
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:25,480
I'm not getting any monetary benefit from saying that.

554
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:26,480
Not for saying.

555
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:31,040
I wanted to see if you could tell us when we can come and celebrate adventure.

556
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:32,040
Sure.

557
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:33,040
I live next.

558
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:34,040
Yes.

559
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:35,040
Well, every day, right?

560
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:36,040
We can go every day and celebrate.

561
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:37,040
It's a public park.

562
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:38,040
You can go every day.

563
00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:39,120
If you're in the area, please go.

564
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:44,080
It's a Meridian-Eustic Roads in Meridian inside Meridian's Settlers Park.

565
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:49,840
August 24th from nine to two is the resource fair throughout that day.

566
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:54,880
But after two, we stop at two because we know that we're going to run into some potential

567
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:55,880
of it getting hot.

568
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:56,880
Right.

569
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,000
And with the air quality right now, we'll know.

570
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:00,240
Let's hope it's all better by then.

571
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,240
Oh, it will be.

572
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:02,240
Right?

573
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:03,240
It'll be great.

574
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:04,560
It's the end of August, right?

575
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:09,760
At noon, we're going to pause and just do a little celebration.

576
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,000
As I mentioned before, we're going to have some people speaking.

577
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,280
I'll probably repeat some of what I just said and thank some people.

578
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,520
And then the two mayors will be speaking.

579
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:25,160
And we may be also hearing from a family who's had some kids that have had the opportunity

580
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:30,280
to grow up there who were not necessarily even a part of the beginning.

581
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:31,360
So you'll see us there.

582
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,880
EIPOL will obviously be there.

583
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,360
The whole team is going to come out in droves to celebrate this.

584
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:38,980
So we hope you come.

585
00:30:38,980 --> 00:30:40,520
We hope you see us there.

586
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:45,680
But if you miss us, because maybe you're vacationing that August, just know that EIPOL will be

587
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,080
here day in and day out.

588
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:48,360
Yeah, we're here every day, too.

589
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:49,640
Well, we're not here on the weekends.

590
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,940
So go play at the playground on Saturday and Sunday and then call us.

591
00:30:53,940 --> 00:30:54,940
Call us on Monday.

592
00:30:54,940 --> 00:30:55,940
Okay, yeah.

593
00:30:55,940 --> 00:31:08,280
Thank you so much, everyone out there for listening in and know that if you are in Idaho

594
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:15,200
or planning on moving to Idaho and have questions on systems or services for children with disabilities,

595
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:19,600
please consider reaching out to us on our website at EIPOL Idaho.

596
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,240
That's I-P-U-L Idaho dot org.

597
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:29,600
Or by calling us at 208-342-5884.

598
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,360
Be sure to tune in next time.

599
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,840
Until then, this has been Unlimited Parenting.

600
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:54,840
Thanks for listening.