Yvonne and Stephen Edwards were happy to be part of creating their new community resource.

“There have been times when this neighborhood was labeled as hopeless…this is hope realized,” said Yvonne Edwards, as she watched the final pieces go into place on a new playground at the Parkland Boys & Girls Club in Louisville, Ky. “It’s simply awesome. People with diverse lives – different ages, genders, culture, those from this community, from around Louisville and beyond – brought it all together.”

Yvonne, her husband, Stephen, and 300 other volunteers from the Parkland neighborhood, Humana and KaBOOM! gathered in an empty field on the morning of Oct. 16. By 3 p.m. that same afternoon, this diverse group of individuals had worked together as one team to create a unique community playground, garden and amphitheater.

“We are doing this for the children, but we all benefit,” said Stephen Edwards. “They will see what can be done. When an event touches our children, it touches our future.”

The Louisville playground is one of a growing number of play spaces that Humana, The Humana Foundation and KaBOOM! are building across the country. As part of a three-year alliance that extends a partnership formed in 2011, more than 50 playgrounds will be built across the United States over a four-year time frame.

The Parkland playground was the first to be built in Louisville and the first to be sponsored by The Humana Foundation. The Humana Foundation’s Remy Shu said the Parkland site was chosen after the Foundation presented a $25,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Club on behalf of Humana’s IMPACT African-American Network Resource Group. At that time, Shu said, the Foundation realized that the children in the area had no safe place to play. The Boys & Club itself was reopened only a month ago. The Foundation wanted to provide a community resource, such as the new intergenerational space, that could be used by children and adults to enhance their well-being, reconnect and build memories.

Current and former community members were happy to take part in creating something that they saw as a building block to a better future for a once-vibrant neighborhood that has fallen on tough economic times and has been the site of recent violence.

“I grew up around here, and used to come to this Boys & Girls Club, “said 44-year-old Rod Holt, a Humana associate and member of the IMPACT group who volunteered to help built the playground. “Used to play touch football right here. Facilities like this club and this playground will help give the kids who are growing up here now the opportunity to have a place to go where they can find an alternative to violence.”

Many of the children in the neighborhood showed their support for the project by participating in the Aug. 15 Design Day, where they worked together on a wish list and laid out their vision of what the perfect playground might look like. On Friday, Oct. 19, they will see how the ideas they drew on a piece of paper have become reality when the playground is officially opened during a community celebration at the club.

Related Videos and Articles

• In this video, the residents of the desert community of Thermal, Calif., who named their playground Mirage, explain what it means to them and how it helps build hope for healthier, happier days ahead.
• “Humana leaves a legacy in Charlotte, Tampa”: Humana and KaBOOM! built multigenerational playgrounds in the two host cities for the 2012 political conventions.

The childen who helped design the playground in Sanford, Florida, spend time playing together almost every day.

Laughter and the joyful sounds of children at play have replaced the silence of empty lots and open fields in communities throughout the country. Multigenerational playgrounds, built through a partnership between Humana and the nonprofit organization KaBOOM!, now fill those empty spaces, offering opportunities for families to gather, reconnect and enjoy a healthier, more active lifestyle.

In the past several months, hundreds of volunteers in communities from California to New Orleans to Florida worked alongside Humana associates and KaBOOM! to build playgrounds that were designed by the children and families who would be using them to create lasting memories – and healthier lives.

Each playground has senior and adult-focused elements, such as fitness stations to promote good posture, balance and flexibility, as well as traditional kid-friendly equipment. But each also has elements unique to each community.

Perhaps the best way to demonstrate the positive changes sparked by the playgrounds is to hear directly from those who have been affected the most. In this video, the residents of the desert community of Thermal, Calif., who named their playground Mirage, explain what it means to them and how it helps build hope for healthier, happier days ahead.

And in Sanford, Fla., Midway Safe Harbor Community Center, which, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club, provides after-school programming, a foster grandparent program, health and nutrition education and a “kids’ café” to more than 150 children, has a new way to actively demonstrate the benefits of an active lifestyle. Dorothy Jackson, who volunteers at the center and enjoys time on the playground with her great-grandchildren, Brenda Knight, administrator of the center, and the children who helped design their playground share their story in the video below.

The Humana “Build a Legacy Tour” has been on the road the last few weeks with stops in Albuquerque, N.M., Tucson, Ariz., and Nashville, Tenn. As the tour crossed the country, more than 600 local volunteers helped build wonderful multi-generational playgrounds and family gathering spaces. Here are a few highlights from our most recent stops.

Albuquerque

• On Thursday, Nov. 3, the Tour made its fourth stop and joined forces with PB&J Family Services, the Bernalillo Senior Center and volunteers from the Bernalillo area to build their unique multi-generational playground and Family Gathering Space.
• The Albuquerque Senior Center showed strong support as volunteers came in droves to help build the playground and install the Life Trail equipment.
• Other notable attendees included Congressman Martin T. Heinrich, Bernalillo Mayor Jack Torres and State Senator John Sapien.

Tucson

• Humana volunteers came out in full force as the fifth build on the tour hit Tucson on Saturday, Nov. 5.
• Humana, Chicanos Por La Causa, the Santa Cruz Apartments and the city of Tucson did not disappoint as families joined together to build this multi-generational playground in the middle of an apartment complex.

Nashville

• On Veterans Day, the community members near United Way’s McGruder Family Resource Center came together on a chilly but sunny day to brighten up the back lot of the center, where the playground was built.
• Nan Kelley from the Great American Country channel joined the volunteer team.
• A moment of silence was observed at noon for our veterans and a color guard from nearby Maplewood High School ROTC performed a flag ceremony during the ribbon cutting.

The second of eight multi-generational playgrounds is finished in New Orleans as part of the Humana “Build a Legacy Tour” taking place this fall.

Humana volunteers, the Cleary Playground Athletic Association, Jefferson Parish Parks and Recreation and KaBOOM! rallied on Wednesday at Cleary Playground, 3700 Civic Street in Metairie, to help build a multi-generational play space for the local community.

More than 200 local volunteers of all ages, along with Humana and KaBOOM!, constructed play equipment and fitness stations in less than six hours. The Cleary Playground is the second of eight multigenerational playgrounds being built across the nation over eight weeks.

Jeff Fernandez, Louisiana senior products market president, helped kick the day off and worked with other local Humana associates throughout the day to make this community dream a reality.

Here are some more fun facts about the build:

• More than 200 volunteers from Humana and the community worked together to build this space
• More than 22,000 pounds of concrete were mixed by hand
• Volunteers will be adding 2,520 square feet of multi-generational playground space for people of all ages in Metairie.

More than 200 volunteers gathered early Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Tudor Square Park near Seattle to create a multi-generational playground. Within six hours, they had created a neighborhood legacy that will promote healthy play and well-being for people of all ages. The customized playground, funded primarily by Humana, was created with personal drawings and input from local community members – from children to seniors. 

The unique space will have senior-focused and adult elements, such as fitness stations and walking paths, to promote good posture, balance and flexibility – as well as more traditional, kid-friendly equipment to build a truly multi-generational space. The new playground is also a place where families can hold reunions, create memories and live life to the fullest. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Humana is partnering with KaBOOM, a national nonprofit organization, to create these unique playgrounds. The first was built in Lauderhill, Fla. Seven more will be built this fall in New Orleans; Greensboro, N.C.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Tucson, Ariz.; Nashville, Tenn.; Orlando, Fla.; and San Antonio.

In addition to members of the Kent community, volunteers from Kent Parks, Recreation & Community Services, Kent Parks Foundation, Tudor Square Neighborhood Council, Humana and KaBOOM! helped create the latest playground.

Here are some more facts about the build:

• More than 15,200 pounds of concrete was mixed by hand to set the equipment
• More than 43,740 square feet of safety surfacing was moved 
• Humana Build a Legacy Tour mobile food truck was also on-site serving hungry participants fresh fruit, whole-grain bagels and bread, chocolate milk and grilled turkey dogs.