Project Play

A Beautiful Change  

Roseville’s Project Play—creating space for inclusion and transforming lives.

By Amy Crelly

It all started with a swing… One day, on an outing to the park with her granddaughter, Zoie, Roseville resident and city employee Jackie DeMuth noticed something. Zoie, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, could only watch while the other kids flew back and forth on the swings. That playground near Jackie’s home—like so many others—posed several obstacles for Zoie’s wheelchair, and the standard swings failed to offer the kind of support kids like her need. “She’s just been the light of our lives,” she says of her granddaughter. Jackie decided she would request a universally accessible swing at Mahany Park, but that swing would turn into so much more.

Common Ground

About the same time Jackie was preparing her request for more playground accessibility, Laurie Newton was launching a similar search just blocks away in the same Roseville neighborhood. Laurie wanted a play structure for her son, Cameron, who has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), a neurodevelopmental condition which makes everyday sensory input (sights, sounds, textures, etc.) difficult to process. In Cameron’s case, it also results in an extraordinary appetite for movement and stimulation. “Any movement grounds him,” says Laurie, explaining that “Cameron needs a steady sensory diet” in order to function and think at his best. “I wanted him to just be able to head into the backyard and spin and swing.”

Laurie searched online and quickly discovered there was a $3,000 – $10,000 price tag attached to her dream (not including the pricey assembly and installation fees), but in the midst of her Web search, Laurie also discovered Shane's Inspiration, a nonprofit dedicated to designing and building universally accessible playgrounds.

Ironically, the two women’s paths crossed not in Roseville but at a community meeting in Folsom, where a staff member from Shane’s Inspiration introduced them. “Laurie was kind of on the same mission,” says Jackie. “So we teamed up.”

“We became friends and put our heads together,” says Laurie.

After some research and preparation, Laurie and Jackie went to Roseville’s City Council in May of 2007 with the idea of creating an entire accessible playground. “I came back and said, ‘Just kidding! We need a whole playground,’” says Jackie, laughing at how quickly her hopes outgrew that request for a single swing. She adds, “Everyone agreed this was the right direction to go in.”

Their timing was perfect too. The city was poised to build a new playground and retrofit another. “The city embraced the idea,” says Jeff Dubchansky, Roseville’s Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation and Project Manager for Project Play. Joining forces with Shane’s Inspiration, the city set a goal to create not one, but three universally accessible playgrounds, at Maidu, Mahany and Royer Regional Parks.

Bridging the Gap

Even those playgrounds that meet the requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) often offer only one or two truly accessible activities. “Cameron is able to walk and climb, but for those children who are blind or use a wheelchair or a walker, the smooth rubberized surface and specially designed features of a universally accessible playground mean they can play and explore just as much as their typically-abled peers,” explains Laurie.

Equal opportunities for play offer kids with special needs the same fun and developmental benefits as their able-bodied friends. And it’s an important step toward full inclusion and integration. “When you teach children to play together at an early age, they grow up with a better understanding and more acceptance of those with disabilities—you bridge that gap,” says Laurie. “It’s wonderful...”

“The community has stepped up incredibly—it’s just been amazing,” says Jackie. Funds for the $2.2 million necessary to design, build, and maintain the playgrounds have come from grants, city-wide funds, and community donations, including some very successful fundraising events. Service organizations and local businesses have made significant contributions too. “The Roseville Chamber has been a true partner,” says Dubchansky.

A Dream Come True

Less than two years after Project Play was launched, the Western-themed Maidu Park playground celebrated its reopening on May 2, 2009. It was followed in July with Phase I of the brand-new Mahany structure (geared toward children ages 5 and younger), and last September Phase II of Mahany’s nature-themed playground was unveiled. Planners are just awaiting more funds in order to finish the third and final phase at Mahany and to begin designing the Royer improvements. “The playground at Royer is very accessible,” says Dubchansky, explaining the city’s reasons for making those modifications last.

Playground amenities include a shaded picnic area, a tree house slide, a climbing apparatus, rubberized, wheelchair-friendly ground cover, a raised water table, and—among Zoie’s favorites—the boat-like “s’way fun” swing, the ladybug rocker at Mahany, and sensory exploration boards for visually impaired kids.

Giving kids with disabilities more freedom and independence has also been a gift to parents, allowing caretakers to take a little break. At the same time, moms and dads with disabilities have been able to connect with their kids in whole new ways. Jackie recalls one dad’s very grateful response: “He told us it was the first time he didn’t have to watch his children play from a distance, but he was able to get in there and play with his kids.”  

I asked Jackie how she felt at the Mahany playground opening, seeing Zoie (now nine years old) enjoying what she had helped create. “I got so emotional,” she recalls. “I just kept thinking, ‘We only asked for a swing!’”

To learn more or lend your support to Project Play, contact Jeff Dubchansky: 774-5245 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .