Church to unveil fully accessible playground

Students in teacher Amy Hofstetter's pre-k class tie prayer ribbons to the fence of a new playground at Stepping Stones Trinity United Methodist Church Preschool on Wednesday,

It was someone running a red light and his daughter's vehicle being T-boned that left her with a traumatic brain injury and confined to a wheelchair.

Since then, for Dan Johnson, senior pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in northwest Gainesville, providing accessibility for everyone has become personal.

The church has made efforts to become fully accessible for all and, at 12:15 Sunday, a dedication ceremony will culminate three years of research and construction and the completion of a fully accessible, inclusive playground on the church's property.

Most of us tend to assume that other people are just like us and that's where you run into problems, the Rev. Johnson said.

Meeting the Americans With Disabilities Act standards, the playground will make available to the entire community an outdoor adventure for disabled and abled children to come together, along with their parents.

The only one of its kind in North Central Florida, the playground features a Noah's Ark and Bible verses on signs in Braille. There's also a Crooked House Chapel with specially designed wider doorways.

A steel drum that looks like a lady bug sits on the artificial turf installed especially for crawlers and new walkers. The engineered mulch around the attractions is meant to remove barriers for wheelchairs.

A Wheelchair Gondola has been installed so that all children can swing together.

Trinity Director of Communications Kelly Ping has watched the integration occur.

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Church to unveil fully accessible playground