Neighbors to create safe space for kids

Children who have experienced the trauma of homelessness or domestic violence in their homes will soon have the opportunity to play outside, taking advantage of the proposed play area made possible by a lease partnership between neighbors Covenant Central Presbyterian Church and YWCA Northcentral.

The future site of the play area will be leased to the YWCA for $1 a year for five years.

When she began working at the Y four years ago, Executive Director Dawn Linn said that she watched the little children who were living with their families in the Wise Options and Liberty House programs and saw that they had little space to play. And there was no area for outdoor play.

Noting that there were public playgrounds in the area, but for clients of the Y's programs, just going to those playgrounds could be problematic.

"If someone is potentially in danger, escaping an abuser, going that little bit of distance can put them in jeopardy," Linn explained.

Another obstacle over the past year is that area playgrounds were shut down because of COVID.

Linn and her staff agreed that the ideal situation was to have a play area at the Y.

"We all know that having play areas helps to build physically healthy children. There's nothing better than getting outside, running, jumping, throwing, doing all those things is just good," she said.

"It also helps to contribute to their social and emotional development. They're already in trauma when they come here and if they don't have extra space to release that it can actually deter helping them move beyond the trauma without having that space," she added.

Children of family members in the Wise Options program which serves people fleeing domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as children of residents at Liberty House, the Y's program for the homeless, will be able to use the play area.

"There's an opportunity for all of the children to have that area of safety to play in nearby," Linn said.

For Covenant Central the opportunity to offer that safe place for children is an opportunity to show love for your neighbor.

"It is unused space and we're under orders from Jesus to share what we have with our neighbors. It's perfect because they are literally our neighbors, so we're just loving our neighbors," said Pastor Elizabeth Affsprung, of Covenant Central Presbyterian.

In fact, Covenant Central refers to the play area as the "Good Neighbor Playground Project."

Affsprung said that the church is also open to other partnerships with the YWCA.

"We would love to do that, but we are contented with having a sort of secondary role where they let us know how we can help them," she said.

"We would certainly like to be long-term partners and good neighbors to the folks at the Y," she added.

Affsprung said that serving your neighbors in ways such as the partnership with the Y is being an important part of the community.

"These are families that are in transition and if we can offer them some happiness and safety and fun for their children and the message that church people are on your side, I think that's really very important," Affsprung added.

The Y's "wish list" for the proposed play area includes swings, slides, a handicapped swing, and a small rock wall for climbing. Linn added that it will have the basics as well as a few creative surprises.

The overall play area is about 24 feet wide and 23 feet deep although the entire site which the church is donating is about 40 feet by 40 feet. The area will be fenced.

The cost of the project is being funded in part by a $17,000 donation from the Jersey Shore FBLA. The First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania provided $5,000 for the cost of the fence. The total cost of the creating the play are should be around $25,000, Linn said although the cost could be greater due to the pandemic.

"I'm just extremely proud of the Jersey Shore FBLA kids who really bought into this and saw the need," she said. "Many of them are looking for other ways to come back and be a part of the YW."

The Historical Review Board has begun the process of approving the project.