For many children with life-threatening conditions, 2020 hasn’t been an easy year.
With immune systems that were already in flux before the pandemic, any exposure to COVID-19 could have a drastic or even fatal effect on them. Organizations like A Kid Again, which serves about 200 families of children with life-threatening medical conditions and helps provide free experiences for those children, have had to conduct their outreach by way of drive-through pickup of crafts kits and virtual programming.
On Friday, though, families of at-risk children were able to get together at Independence Park in Greenwood. Willow Moering, a 4-year-old with Coffin-Siris syndrome, cut the ribbon on new interactive playground equipment.
The equipment, a Yalp Sona play arch, has interactive components and audio that initiates a conversation with children when they pass under it. It can spit out simple arithmetic problems, with children pressing numerical buttons that correspond to the answer, or it can start a game of Simon Says with a child, said Jessica Moering, Willow’s mother.
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Due to Willow Moering’s condition, she has cognitive and developmental delays, along with respiratory difficulties and trouble eating due to low muscle tone. On Friday, her condition didn’t mean she was different. She explored a playground right next to her Center Grove-area home, meeting other children who also had life-threatening conditions as part of A Kid Again.
“Willow is still non-verbal, but she’s super happy all the time and a lot of fun to be around,” Jessica Moering said. “It was a lot of fun. Willow was on a new piece of playground equipment and a boy came over and she loved him coming over.”
The playground arch was paid for by a $50,000 grant from the Indianapolis NBA All-Star Host Committee. The grant was one of 21 All-Star Legacy grants in Indiana, said Katie Pappas, executive director for the A Kid Again Indianapolis chapter.
The decision to use the grant on the playground equipment at Independence Park was based on a need to expand A Kid Again services to the southside and south suburbs, Pappas said.
“We are very humbled and honored to be selected as one of 21 All-Star Legacy grant recipients,” she said. “This is an all-inclusive, really cool interactive arch that anyone from a little kid to a big kid can play on and play in. It’s all-accessible, all kinds of games, learning games like math and a wide variety of cool things you can do. I think it’s a great addition to the park, and it’s a place where some of our families can feel welcomed.”
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A Kid Again helps children with life-threatening conditions and their families with monthly experiences. It provides those experiences at no cost to families through donations. Those interested in donating can email Executive Director Katie Pappas at [email protected] or call her at 317-417-3222.
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What: Yalp Sona interactive play arch
Where: Independence Park, 2100 S. Morgantown Road, Greenwood
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