HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Haines Wainwright is three years old and an adventurous child who loves the outdoors. His mom, Avoly Wainwright, says an injury that happened to him before he hit 2 affected some of his abilities.
"Haines, my little boy, at 16 months old, suffered a brain injury and had encephalitis in the right hemisphere of his brain. He ended up having 15 seizures a day," says Avoly.
Then after his injury, he suffered weakness in his left side. He loved getting out to the playground, but the injury made that difficult.
"Most playgrounds, you have to climb a ladder, or you have to climb really high stairs. He's not able to maneuver himself on slides or get down by himself," says Avoly.
Finding a playground that's inclusive of children with disabilities is challenging. Adrian Cyr and her daughter Myla Syr who can't walk, discovered that.
"She can't play with her sisters, and she can't play with her peers. That's really hard; you don't want to go to a park if your kids can't play," says Adrian.
Avoly is one of the people working to give Perry a playground that's inclusive for kids with disabilities. City council approved the new playground.
Now Wainwright is calling on the community to help pay for it so that all kids around town can enjoy the benefits of playing outside.
They plan for the playground to be about 18,000 square feet. Kids in wheelchairs will be able to go on the slides. Kids who are blind and deaf will also be able to play safely. All donations are tax-deductible.
They plan on recognizing people who donated around the playground.
Here is more information on the Inclusive Playground Project and how you can get involved.