By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

The North Syracuse Early Education Program has been awarded two grants toward the construction of its new inclusive playground at the Main Street School.

NSEEP has received a $30,000 grant from the Central New York Community Foundation’s Martha Fund, which “was designated for the use, benefit, health issues and enjoyment of children in Onondaga County,” according to the CNYCF website. Also, the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation has awarded NSEEP approximately $20,000.

Cheri Rotelli, a physical therapist at NSEEP and playground project coordinator, said NSEEP received word about the grants in late June.

“I couldn’t believe it — $50,000 in five days,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever written a grant so it’s exciting. … It just means that we have a local community looking out for the needs of our children.”

With a total price tag of $280,157.70, the new playground will feature wide wheelchair-accessible ramps, smooth surfaces and a variety of play fixtures for kids of all abilities. Among the features are textured boards for tactile stimulation and a communications board with pictures for nonverbal students to point at to convey their needs. A significant portion of NSEEP’s students have  physical or developmental disabilities.

Demolition of the old playground is set to take place within the next few weeks, and the new playground will be installed in August.

“We are forging ahead with hope,” Rotelli said. “And the paint we bought for every single surface is antimicrobial.”

NSEEP is hoping to hold a ribbon cutting for the playground in September, but as the coronavirus pandemic continues, it is hard to say when Main Street students will be able to play.

“I’m really hoping that in the next six months that we all get our act together and this virus goes away,” Rotelli said.

Rotelli said playgrounds are key to learning for little kids. When playgrounds are inaccessible to disabled children, “It puts a bruise on their social development,” she said.

“It’s really touching that any foundation would look at our little school and our children and think we’re worthy of $30,000,” Rotelli added.

Danielle Johnson, director of grants and programs for the CNY Community Foundation, said NSEEP’s mission of inclusive education and play stood out to the foundation.

“Over 50% of their kids have some sort of developmental disability. We felt that all children should have the same opportunities for everything and that includes enjoyment and personal growth,” Johnson said.

Debbie Sindone, foundation administrator for the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, said the Boeheims were drawn to NSEEP’s inclusive environment as well.

“They loved the idea that it was going to be inclusive for all kids, replacing the old playground with equipment for kids with special needs,” she said. “It’s really Jim and Juli making the decisions. … If it speaks to them, they’ll approve it. It really did speak to them.”

The CNY Community Foundation is made up of more than 700 funds. The Martha Fund was established in 2012 upon the death of Ruth Blumberg, a Fayetteville resident, in honor of Blumberg’s daughter Martha, who died of kidney disease in 1985.

“These are local individuals who have chosen to pool their charitable dollars for the betterment of our community. We’re really lucky as a community to have such thoughtful, forward-thinking people,” Johnson said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the grant-making process for organizations like the Community Foundation and the Boeheim Foundation.

“For our community grantmaking program, we allowed for much more flexibility in the current grant round. We allowed organizations to present us not only new ideas but what their most pressing needs are during COVID,” Johnson said.

The Community Foundation has partnered with other local philanthropic organizations as well as the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County to form the CNY COVID-19 Community Support Fund, which provides funding to nonprofits that support those disproportionately affected by the pandemic. As of June 30, the fund has raised $1.6 million for CNY organizations such as ACR Health, Clear Path for Veterans, the Ronald McDonald House and the Food Bank of Central New York.

The Boeheim Foundation is one of the partners of the CNY COVID-19 Community Support Fund as well. Sindone said the foundation has distributed $455,000 this spring. Most of that amount was typical for the foundation’s spring grant cycle, but about $100,000 went toward emergency funding requests related to COVID-19.

In addition to the grants from the CNY Community Foundation and the Boeheim Foundation, NSEEP has received $17,135 in private donations, a $25,633 inclusive play grant from Miracle Recreation Equipment Co. and $25,000 from the North Syracuse Central School District. The district is also making an in-kind contribution of labor worth $27,000.