Helena, Montana woman starts effort for ‘playable’ special-needs playground

While Stacy Sommer was living back East, she noticed nearly every town had a playground accessible for every type of child, including those with special physical and mental needs. When Sommer, who is the mother of a special-needs child, moved to Helena, she decided to invest her energy in creating a similar playground here.

Helena’s "playable playground" already has a home plotted in Centennial Park. The tricky next step is securing the funding to make it happen. That’s why Sommer entered Pepsi’s "Refresh Everything" contest, which offers $50,000 to projects that support community development. Sommer said if the playable playground project lands in the contest’s top 10 entries, it will get the funding to install the "tot lot," with special climbing and tunnel logs, a small slide, and benches, for children 2 and under.

The last day to vote in the contest is Dec. 31. People interested in voting can visit http://www.refresheverything.com/helenas-playable-playground.

By PIPER HAUGAN Independent Record

Full Story: http://helenair.com/news/local/local-woman-starts-effort-for-playable-special-needs-playground/article_aef0e93c-2c6c-11e1-b1fe-0019bb2963f4.html