“We were looking for a way to give back and do something to remember [Kade],” said Julie Damian, founder of the nonprofit and Kade’s mother. “We want to remember not that he died, but that he lived and that he lived fully independent.”
As an educator and the mother of two additional sons, Damian said she understands the importance of play to build and enrich children both mentally and physically. That is when she solidified the idea for a park, which would be accomplished via the establishment of The Playful Child in 2018.
“I see play as something that's missing in a lot of families and a lot of child development,” Damian said.
In July 2019, the city of Georgetown dedicated 6 acres of raw land near the Georgetown Country Club to build The Kade Damian Healing Hearts Park. Located at 1306 Country Club Drive, Georgetown, the park will become a space where families and communities can come together to play, relax and remember lost loved ones, Damian said.
Once completed, the nonprofit will donate the park back to the city, which will work to maintain the park, Damian said. The goal is for the park to break ground in summer or fall 2021 and be free for use, she added.
“Healing Hearts is for anybody and everybody,” Damian said. “We've all experienced some kind of hurt; play helps connect us and helps us grow and helps us heal.”
While the park has completed conceptual designs, Damian said there is still a lot of money to be raised—at least $1 million and maybe even $1.5 million—before it is complete. But that is a three- to five-year goal—to have the park complete. Right now, Damian said she is focused on raising $150,000 to go toward a construction plan.
Damian added that the price to build the park is high because she wants to use materials that improve accessibility. For example, the park will include open-air tents that allow children, especially those on the autism spectrum, to distance themselves and seek comfort as needed but still be seen by their parents. Damian said the slides will also be designed so parents can join their child, and the special flooring used throughout the play areas will allow strollers and wheelchairs to easily move.
The park will also have several features, including slides along hills, a large climbing area, rope swings, forts, two tree houses, an open-air pavilion, a water feature, access to the surrounding river, and a memorial garden and labyrinth to remember loved ones, she said.
Damian said she also hopes the park will help build community connections, as often neighbors do not even know each other. With this community park, that could change.
“We all complain about it, but it's a little bit of an effort on the parents part to get your kids outside and go play with them,” she said. “But we're all happier in the end, I think, if we get more active.”
