Common Grounds Park

We are very fortunate to have a special needs park being built in our town. Ben will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it once it is completed! Below is an article about it from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Also, here is a link to the park's website: http://www.masonparksfoundation.org/home.html

Fundraiser helps disability-friendly park
BY CARRIE WHITAKER CWHITAKER@ENQUIRER.COM
MASON - Parks and playgrounds aren't difficult to find around here for your child, unless you're the parent of a child with disabilities.
Nationwide, only about 100 playgrounds go beyond the bare minimums of federal requirements to be fully accessible to children with disabilities, says Mason resident Rachel Kopfler.
So this mother of five - including triplets who are just turning 4 - is spearheading an effort to build a regional, "barrier-free" playground in Mason to be called Common Ground Playground.
"It's so important that kids with special needs play alongside their peers," Kopfler said. "A lot of people think of playgrounds as a luxury, but it's an important part of a child's development. We see this as something all of Cincinnati could benefit from."
That includes one of her triplets, Grant, who was born with a spinal cord defect.
"He walks on braces and he's tiny, but he does walk," Kopfler said. "We think he's doing so well because he has four typically developed siblings close to his age."
All children with disabilities need that social bonding, she said.
For the last year and a half, Kopfler, her husband Rick and a band of volunteers have been working with city officials to turn a dream park into a reality. The land - 23 acres off U.S. 42 - is already allotted for the park. The design is based on a similar playground in Florida.
The idea is to build a playground that all children want to play in, with features that won't alienate those with handicaps, Kopfler said.
The Mason Parks and Recreation Department helped Kopfler and her group set up a nonprofit entity - the Mason Parks and Recreation Foundation - to raise up to $500,000 for the playground.
"The idea is to raise as much as we can," Kopfler said. "The city has some money earmarked for it, but we want to do more."
She hopes to see kids playing together at the playground by spring 2010. A fundraiser for Common Ground Playground is scheduled for Sept. 13 at the Great Wolf Lodge. The event includes keynote speaker Dick Hoyt of Holland, Mass.
Hoyt's son, Rick, 45, was deprived of oxygen during birth when the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic. Rick also has cerebral palsy.
Yet Rick has joined his father as "Team Hoyt" in marathons and triathlons all over the world, including Iron Man Hawaii.
Hoyt carries his son in a special seat when they bike, pulls him in a boat when they swim and pushes him in a custom wheelchair when they run.
"His whole life has been dedicated to inclusion," Kopfler said, making Dick Hoyt the perfect choice for a speaker.