'My big dream would be to have accessible swings at every park'
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PORTLAND, Ore. - A local mom is hoping to get a different kind of swing installed in the park across the street from their home so her daughter, who has Rett Syndrome, can have fun like everyone else.
Jade Razzano can't really use a normal swing at the playground at Rose City Park in Northeast Portland unless she has a lot of help.
"Imagine the symptoms of autism, Cerebral palsy, Parkinson's, epilepsy and anxiety disorders all in one little girl," her mother, Joey Razzano, said. "In addition to that, my daughter has Scoliosis, Osteoporosis, can't use her hands and can't talk."
Razzano is trying to raise enough money to get a specially designed swing installed at Rose City Park - and she's hoping to accomplish this by the time her daughter's birthday rolls around in June. The swing will cost around $1,000.
"When she gets really anxious or even when she's in pain, when we swing her it activates a part of the brain that either stops her pain or makes her calm down," said Razzano. "She can't tell us what is wrong, but we know when we swing her, it makes it right."
"My big dream would be to have accessible swings at every park in Portland," she added.
You might recall that a similar effort was done at Arbor Lodge Park in North Portland, but on a much larger scale.
The parents of Harper Goldberg spent two years raising money for inclusive playground equipment that would allow their daughter, who has a rare condition called Emanuel Syndrome, to play with the other kids. Their effort was successful and the playground was christened Harper's Playground.
Why don't you just put one in your backyard? I really don't think taking normal swings away from children to replace them with one that accommodates your child, in the off chance that maybe one day you will stop by, is really fair.
@Jeepers ~  I didn't see anything that said they were planning (or even wanted) to take any swings away that were already there...  even though there are usually plenty of swings, and replacing one or two of them probably wouldn't deprive anyone...  And (bless their little hearts), they're not even asking the tax-payers to fund this...kind of unusual these days!  Â
More power to them, and I wish them good luck in their efforts..! Â :-)
@Jeepers How is creating an accessible space for both disabled and nondisabled children to play in any way 'unfair?' What a callous and ignorant comment to make.Â
@Jeepers Based upon your comment.... so much for social interaction with other children, huh? Shall we take all handicap children and segregate them away from the general public? Would that make you happy?Â
@Jeepers Most of the time there's plenty of unused swings for the other kids.
I appreciate the fact that they're seeking donations rather than demanding change and filing lawsuits. Respect where it's due, and good luck to them!
I went to a swingers party once. It was pretty crazy until i broke the swing and got kicked out.
@Phuzz ~ Good one, Phuzz... even if I DID almost spit coffee on my keyboard..!  Â
:-)
ok how in the heck does a swing cost 1000.00? it seems these could be made for 150.00 tops since you dont need the whole swing set...should post the vendor making these so we can see the actual cost.
Yes, CNN is a 501(c)(3).... I have actually been trying to raise the money for three years but couldn't get a fiscal sponsor until just recently. When you donate, you will get a tax-deductible receipt for your donation to CNN. They will handle all the financial arrangements.
Whatever! How the devil did I ever survive childhood?
@jpk ~  Yeah... we had those flat-board swings that were held up by chains... one of the city parks, though, had swings that were made out of... canvas, I think (remembering a l-o-n-g way back here), so it was like a rectangular piece of canvas, reinforced, then attached to chains on each end... those were nice, cause if you had short-shorts on (which we did, in summer), you didn't get splinters in your rear-end..!  :-)
It really was fun to stand up on those metal flat boards and go faster, and even sideways! Those were the days, my friend! We fell off? OK, we got back on again and tried not to let it happen again! Like I said, we didn't worry about survival, we just did survive and enjoyed every minute of it! Nowadays, God forbid, they have to be 110% safe for everybody.
Interesting-looking swing... never saw anything like that before..! Â Â :-)
I'm donating
I should also mention that all donations are tax-deductible because we are fiscally sponsored by the Northeast Neighborhood Association.
@Joey.Razzano  Is the Northeast Neighborhood Association an official 501(c)(3) charitable organization? If not, donations are not tax deductible.
@wondering @Joey.Razzano
Wondering is right. Â
You must contribute to a qualified tax-exempt organization. Charities will let you know if they have received their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Some organizations are not required to obtain 501(c)(3) status from the IRS. These include churches and other religious organizations.
So if Northeast Neighborhood Association does not have 501(c)(3) status, you may want to approach a local church to sponsor this.  I'm sure many would, and then the donations would be deductible. Â
Thanks, Just Lookin' and it's a good observation, Bert. In addition to the swings, Portland Parks is also requiring $2500 of paving for ADA accessibility requirements. And I had to enter a "goal" before I had the quotes from everyone. It's true that additional money will go toward more swings at more parks. And it's $1000 per swing but we would love to install 2 swings so Jade can have a friend swing with her. She will live with us all her life so we are going to get a swing that will last for years. Thanks for commenting! - Joey
@Joey.Razzano Thank you Joey.Razzano..for caring about and for your child. You must be one super strong lady! I mean that as a compliment.
Sounds worthy of a donation.
The swing cost a thousand and they want to raise 4500 dollars.
@Bert From the fundraiser site, they want to put swings in other places, to help more kids.