We asked two fans of Bennett’s Village to write about why they think it is important to build a place where ALL can play. Here are their responses: Molly Carter (Bottle Tree Consulting): When I look back on my childhood, it’s funny, thinking about the things I felt like I was “supposed to enjoy” simply because my able-bodied peers…
How often have you or someone you cared about struggled to use a bathroom due its small size, heavy door, or lack of accessible features? Maybe it is because you were trying to use the bathroom and you had a young one in your arms (or the stroller wouldn’t fit in the stall). Maybe you broke a foot and…
May 23rd. Since 2013 I have struggled with this day on the calendar. Diagnosis Day. It was the day everything changed. Every SMA family (or any other family that receives a serious medical diagnosis) remembers the moment that forever changed the trajectory of their family’s life. I spent the first half of 2013 scared. Bennett wasn’t meeting some physical…
Dear Friends of Bennett’s Village, I hope this update finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. It has been a few months since you’ve heard from us. This is in part because of how our world has been affected by the COVID-19– which has been challenging and sometimes overwhelming – and partly because there has been so…
May 12th is Bennett’s birthday. He should have turned 8 this year. For his 5th birthday, he asked his mom if he could have his birthday party at the ARC Park (now known as PLAY365) in Richmond. Not knowing it was the last birthday she would get to celebrate with Bennett, she told him it was too far away…
Bennett loved rocks—all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. He loved polished beautiful stones from the rock store. He loved fossils. He loved sparkly gems. But he also loved the ordinary rock, found in a mud puddle. He spent many a recess asking kids and adults to pick up rocks he spied on the ground. He stopped us on the…
Bennett’s Village is looking for artists, young and not-so-young, to send us drawings, paintings, photographs of your favorite place to play. All of us have places we love to explore, learn, relax, and reconnect. And we may be missing them right now. So why not share your favorite place with the rest of us so that we can see…
It’s been a surreal few weeks. There are all kinds of big feelings going on right now for adults and kids alike. Many of us are having to learn new ways of interacting with each other and the world. Some of us are feeling the effects of being cooped up…we miss our friends and our routines. Some of us…
Bennett and his sister Ananda loved to play together. On the playground, in the car, and in the living room. With his friends, with her friends, with their pet guinea pigs. They didn’t let Bennett’s mobility challenges get in the way of fun. One year (for Christmas or a birthday) Ananda bought a colored disco ball for her brother….
By Kara McClurken (Bennett’s mom) The light was blinking on the answering…
Bennett's Village, Inc., 716 Shamrock Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 529-6552
Bennett’s Village is partnering with @PivotPhysicalTherapy to put on…
[Image Caption: Mike Giovinco is on stilts and kicking…
Big news! Bennett’s Village has received its own 501(c)(3)…
