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New play area  a ‘dream come true’

Thanks to donations, kids will no longer have to play on barren lot

Cheyenne Cox, 10, tries out the swings at the new playground installed at Sojourner Recovery Services, after a dedication ceremony on Wednesday, June 17.

Staff photo by Greg Lynch Cheyenne Cox, 10, tries out the swings at the new playground installed at Sojourner Recovery Services, after a dedication ceremony on Wednesday, June 17.

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By Richard Wilson, Staff Writer 3:19 AM Thursday, June 18, 2009

HAMILTON — The barren lot of gravel and concrete next to Sojourner Recovery Services has been transformed into a safe place for children to play.

The new play area, at 516 High St., officially opened Wednesday afternoon, June 17, and includes swings, a slide, an oval track for tricycles and newly planted grass.

The playground was made possible entirely through donations and is a “dream come true” for Sojourner clients and staff, said Development Director Kim Mihevic. Children who live with their mothers at the residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility will no longer have to play on the sidewalk or in the street, Mihevic said.

Tom and Betty Owens, owners of Sharonville-based Ameridian Specialty Service Inc., provided for 95 percent of the project — donating equipment, materials and labor.

Betty Owens, a Sojourner board member, said she was inspired to see the project through to completion.

“When I walked on the grounds, and nothing was here. ... These kids don’t have a safe place to play,” Owens said. “I thought, ‘What if my children were in that situation?’ We had the ability to help.”

The Youth Philanthropy Committee of the Hamilton Community Foundation donated $3,400 to the project.

Ben Hemmelgarn, who will be a senior at Ross High School, is president of the philanthropy group, which is made up of local high school students. He said the committee wanted to get involved with the project because it would provide joy for children for years to come.

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