We all know that life "has its bumps". For Ella, that is a reality she lives with every single day. We are so fortunate that so many people and several organizations have stepped forward to help our family. We honestly wouldn't be where we are had it not been for the care, dedication, and pure kindness that has surrounded us.
Ella is six years old. She LOVES to play with her brother and sister, with her friends, and with her neighbors. Of course, kids being kids, they run and jump and play all over the yard and the neighborhood. Ella does everything she can to keep up with them...and does a great job of it!
We have noticed that as she cruises around the front and back yard areas she is pretty good at changing her pathways, thereby not wearing muddy paths in either of those places. While this has always been the case, it is not so for the pathway she has forged allowing her to go back and forth between the front and back yards; the lawn in this area (which is on the side of the house) really only allows for one path for her because of its width. This small area is being worn down and the grass is dying, leaving sloppy muddy spots where her chair can get stuck. Of course, rainfall coupled with very poor drainage in that area only exacerbates the problem--and it promises to get worse.
Several organizations have tried to help but to no avail thus far. So we have decided to tackle the problem on our own.
What we aim to do is create a structured path from the driveway to the playground in the back yard using rubber mulch. Rubber mulch lasts longer than wood mulch as it is guaranteed for 12 years. It's cleaner and provides a smoother, more cushioned-based path for her to travel over. A stated before: without a structured pathway, the grassy area Ella uses to go from front to back (and vice-versa) will soon become a sloshy, muddy mess; eventually she won't be able to use that path since her power wheelchair would get stuck in the mud.
Taking this all into consideration we have decided to reach out to whomever might be willing to help. In general, we are looking for anybody who might give us a few tips on building a rubber mulch pathway (~45' long x 3' wide x 2" deep). We are also going to install a little extra drainage to that area (catch basins, some short underground piping, & a pop-up drain) to redirect the puddling water. We have done a lot of research. We even talked with a man, by chance, who designed the Morton Arboretum's children's play area (he now works at Home Depot). We are ready to move forward. If there is anyone else out there who has experience in this type of work and can give us advice, tips, or tricks--it would be greatly appreciated.
Please feel free to email us at: mcc2oreos@gmail.com if you or somebody you know, would have anything to share that would be useful to us as we embark on this project for Ella.
Here are 2 videos; the first is showing the bumpy path she's forged on the side of the house. The second shows how nice of a ride she gets on the rubber mulch in the playground area. There is also a picture showing the area we plan on draining & renovating for her.
Videos and Pic
