Vote for our Community to Receive a Grant for a Handicap Accessible Playground

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Texarkana, USA is in the running of another National contest to benefit our community, but this time it is to fund an A.D.A. Playground for our local children with disabilities.

VOTE FOR "JEFFERSON PLAYGROUND"

The "Neighborhood Assist" program is sponsored by State Farm. Forty causes will receive $25,000 each, and at last check (4:30p.m. 5/26) Texarkana's "Jefferson Playground" was in 79th place. Here is a link for Frequently Asked Questions.

Just as with previous community wide programs that Texarkana has applied, competed for, and won, voters receive 10 votes per day. Voting only continues until June 3rd, and State Farm will announce the top forty winning causes on June 16. So local organizers and volunteers urge you to vote all of your votes each and everyday.

Our cause is officially titled "Jefferson Playground" and will be at Jefferson Park across from Arkansas High School. (There are a couple of different causes with "Jefferson in the title, make sure it is our "Jefferson Playground".)

VOTE FOR "JEFFERSON PLAYGROUND".

In the statement regarding the need for such a facility in Texarkana organizers explain,

We have a need for an ADA accessible community park. Our community has really pulled together to address needs as they arise. We have seen an area that has been overlooked and that is an ADA accessible park for the entire population to enjoy. We have the perfect area in a city park that already has concrete barriers to enclose the area that we envision having equipment for children with disabilities. We have been proactively working on getting sidewalks, public restrooms and other parks ADA compliant, but having the opportunity to go one step above and having a place for all to enjoy simultaneously would be an added bonus for us. Our parks today have equipment that is very old and not safe for anyone to use; and definitely not for children with disabilities. Having equipment like this really segregates our population. We need a place for our children of all ages and abilities to be able to congregate.

When asked what the lasting impact on our community would be,

This addition to this park would have a lasting impact on our entire community. The citizens of our region pulled their talents together and were the driving force behind the dog park that was added to this park a couple of years ago. This park would serve as another example of what a community can do with they come together. I imagine when the children today that will take a part in building this, will be retelling the story to their children on how this park was built. State Farm and this contest would always be a part of great memories for our city.

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The definition of The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 posted at Disabled-world.com:

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 - A law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009. The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. Disability is defined by the ADA as "...a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case by case basis. Certain specific conditions are excluded as disabilities, such as current substance abuse and visual impairment that is correctable by prescription lenses.