09/16/2026
💙I HAVE BIG NEWS💙
A few months ago, I wrote a post about the soles of Briggs’ shoes.
About how something as ordinary as taking your child to the playground can look completely different when your child is autistic and prone to elopement.
About wishing there was a place where, even for just a few minutes, I could watch my little boy be a little boy.
I wrote it because it’s our reality.
I had no idea who would read it.
Mayor of Chelsea, Cody Sumners, did.
That post started a conversation. A conversation full of questions, ideas, and possibilities for inclusion in Chelsea.
And now I finally get to share a little bit of where that conversation led.
Last night, the Chelsea City Council approved the city’s new budget…and funding for a fence around the playground at the Chelsea Recreational Park on Hwy 39 is included. 💙😭
A fence.
It sounds like such a simple thing.
But to a family with an autistic child who elopes, it can be the difference between “We can’t go there.” and “Let’s go play!”
It can mean a little less fear mixed into the simple act of watching your child play. It can make every step toward the edge of the playground feel like less of an emergency. It can mean siblings getting to enjoy the playground without a parent having to choose who to chase. It can mean breathing just a little bit easier.
Most importantly, it provides something every child deserves…
freedom to play.
And there may be even more to come. If funding allows as the project moves forward, other adaptive features are also being considered. 💙
When I started Spectrum Support, I wasn’t an expert in advocacy or community organizing. I was just a mom who saw a need because my own family was living it. I took a chance that maybe we weren’t the only ones.
And of course we weren’t.
Sometimes advocacy begins with simply being willing to say:
“This is hard for our families. Can we make it better?”
And then you hope someone listens.
Chelsea listened.
I am incredibly grateful to Mayor Cody Sumners, the Chelsea City Council, and the City of Chelsea. Not only for hearing this need, but for doing something about it.
And somewhere in all of my gratitude, I think it’s okay to stop for just a second and feel proud of the small part I got to play in it.
I’m still just a mom who needed a fence.
A mom who wrote about her little boy’s shoes.
And somehow, that story reached someone who could help turn a need into action.
Someday soon, I hope I’ll stand inside that fence and look down at the soles of Briggs’ shoes.
And instead of wondering how quickly those shoes could carry him away from me, I’ll get to watch him play inside a place designed to help keep him safe.
I don’t think I’ll ever have the words for what that will mean.
Thank you, Cody Sumners - Mayor City of Chelsea. Thank you, Chelsea City Council. Thank you, City of Chelsea, Alabama.
Thank you for listening. Thank you for leading. And thank you for continuing to make Chelsea better for families like ours. 💙
This is what community can do.
And I can’t WAIT to see what comes next. 💙
