Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Multiple local organizations recently collaborated in efforts to make Yelm a little more inclusive.
The city, with the help of One Net Yelm, the Nisqually Indian Tribe and Mount Terrace Builders, has installed the “We-Go-Swing,” a wheelchair accessible swing, at Yelm City Park.
Yelm’s Public Works Director Cody Colt told the Nisqually Valley News that Brad Chatwood, the city’s project manager, saw a “We-Go-Swing” open in Vancouver, Washington, and had a vision to bring the same wheelchair accessible swing to Yelm. The city is hopeful the swing will be open to the public before the start of summer, as Colt said they’re aiming for a Memorial Day opening.
“Brad jumped on that project,” Colt said. “It’s about $100,000 for everything, and the reason why is because there’s a lot of tests and safety procedures needed to be done to make sure it’s safe for everyone.”
Through the city’s partnership with One Net Yelm, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide support to worthy causes in the greater Yelm community, a donation from the Nisqually Indian Tribe was obtained. The donation paid for a majority of the costs for the swing, with the city paying for the rest of it.
“A bunch of different groups got together to create this swing in the park. The coolest thing is that it’s a wheelchair accessible swing, so anybody in a wheelchair can use it. They can use it by themself or they can use it with someone, because there’s two seats,” Colt said. “It’s going to be a great addition. More inclusivity for everybody.”
In addition to the wheelchair swing at Yelm City Park, Colt said non-verbal boards have been installed at the park for children who don’t communicate yet to be able to point to different things they want to do.
“We’re trying to increase the inclusivity at the park. I think it was a great idea by Brad when he found it and saw it. It’s awesome,” Colt said. “One Net Yelm coming on board and helping find funding for us, the tribe being able to donate that money through One Net, it turned out to be a really good project all together.”
Colt said while there aren’t any current plans at this time to introduce additional “We-Go-Swings” in Yelm, he noted they will be included in future plans for parks in the city.
“Having this swing now, we know in future parks we will include these kinds of items,” he said. “We do have more of the non-verbal boards, so we’ll include those in parks as we build them out. As we build our new parks, we’ll continue to add these features as we learn about them.”
Colt believes the partnership through multiple organizations shows that people “really do care about Yelm.”
“The people in Yelm consistently want Yelm to be better. When you get enough people together, you can do anything. You can build a wheelchair accessible swing set,” he said. “It’s the first one in Thurston County, and hopefully it becomes something that other areas can see, and they bring it to their parks too. It shows how much the people in Yelm love Yelm, and how much we want to make it better. Whenever there’s an area of need, Yelm rises to the occasion and always impresses me.”
