Unity Forest: An Inclusive Playground The playground will feature at least one wheelchair swing, rubber flooring, concrete paths and benches as well as wheelchair-accessible, senior-specific and sensory-oriented equipment.[/caption]

About three years ago, Magnolia mother Brandie Webb approached officials at City Hall and asked them to close their eyes and picture themselves at Unity Park in wheelchairs. Webb asked them to imagine what equipment they would be able to use at the city’s existing park, which features a standard playground and other amenities.

“I think having an inclusive playground where everybody—no matter what your ability is—can go is important,” Webb said. “With Unity Park as beautiful as it is already, if you were in a wheelchair, you can’t enjoy any of that.”

After visiting other inclusive playgrounds across the state, Webb, whose daughter was born with an orthopedic impairment, formed a five-member committee with co-chairwoman Phyllis Stegen. The committee is working as an umbrella organization under the Magnolia Community Foundation to raise $330,000 to make the Unity Forest inclusive playground a reality.

By February, the committee plans to construct the city’s first wheelchair swing at the existing Unity Park playground through an $8,000 grant from the Magnolia Rotary Club, Stegen said.

If enough funds are raised, the committee plans to begin construction on Unity Forest by the end of 2016. The playground will include wheelchair-accessible, senior-specific and sensory-oriented equipment.

Like Webb, Stegen said she joined the project because her son was diagnosed with leukemia and has become differently abled.

“I feel like I grew up in a time where we really didn’t talk about people who were differently abled, and that’s just not the way it should be anymore,” Stegen said. “Everybody deserves a chance.”

Unity Forest: An Inclusive Playground
19450 Unity Park Drive, Magnolia
281-909-7347
www.unityforestplay.wix.com/unityforest
www.facebook.com/UnityForestInclusivePlayground