Terre Haute Mayor’s Youth Council seeks to raise $35,000 for community project
David Kronke, Tribune-Star
Terre Haute’s revamped Coy Park will be accessible and tactile. Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun formed the Mayor’s Youth Council last August to create a project that would benefit the community. Last week, the 20 members from Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo High Schools announced they are raising money to bring a handicap- accessible playground to Coy Park. The council must raise $35,000, and then the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, through its CreatINg Places program, will provide a matching grant to complete funding for the project. “In today’s day and age, a lot of folks want to turn to young people and tell them what they’re doing wrong,” Sakbun said. “This Terre Haute Youth Council allows us to showcase everything our young students are doing correct.” The new playground’s chief attraction is a sensory dome, which provides auditory, visual or tactile experiences.
“There’s a number of features in it that are good for physical touch,” Sakbun said. “The setup of the playground itself allows for students in a wheelchair to interact and play as well.
“We want a welcoming parks environment, whether you walk with a walker, [use] a wheelchair or you’re just fine and completely able-bodied — we try to create an environment that’s open to everyone, and we believe this park will do that.”
The Youth Council playground will replace the current playground, nestled under a shaded canopy. In addition to the sensory dome, it will include upgraded swings, a Tipi carousel and a seesaw and be situated where the current playground lies. Sakbun said the current playground equipment will be repurposed to another park.
Sakbun said the Youth Council is organized and dynamic.
“They had a design committee, a fundraising committee — these meetings are a ton of fun,” he said. “I’m a younger guy, but I feel a lot younger in there because they’re fun, they’re energetic, they’re not on their cell phones. How often do you get two dozen students not on their cell phones engaging in conversations?”
LaDonna Ingram, executive assistant to the Office of the Mayor, noted, “The Mayor’s Youth Council will only get this matching grant if they raise $35,000. If they do not meet their crowdfunding goal, they do not receive any funds from the IHCDA.”
“The state is interested in matching $35,000; we believe the students can raise more than that,” Sakbun said. “They’re going to go out to businesses, they’re going to meet with individuals, they’re going to post on social media. We are really looking forward to this.”
For more information or to contribute to the Mayor’s Youth Council’s Coy Park project, visit Patronicity.
SOURCE: The Tribune Star