WACO, Texas — “We can come and nobody judges you," said Jamie Montgomery, local sports mom.
For 10 years, Challenger Park has been a safe zone for Jamie and her 11-year-old son Kesler — a special needs boy from Waco full of joy.
The park is one of their favorite places they can count on to exhale their worries away.
“If your kids throw a fit, nobody's laughing at you — there's always people that will they want to help," Montgomery said.
The place they call their own is now updated with new grass, a padded base paths, and family bathrooms with changing tables.
It took four years for the new amenities to come about — Lupe Rosas says the kids in the neighborhood need it.
“It gives them the chance to play the game of baseball, and out here it doesn’t matter if you can run, if there in a wheelchair or walkers or blind, we have people that will assist the kids," Rosas said.
“There's so many places in this world that they go and they're welcome, but people don't necessarily understand them or accept them," Montgomery said.
"When they come here, they're accepted. They're understood and they can totally be themselves."
The ballpark cost taxpayers close to $9 million. Before the upgrades, residents said the park was hard to enjoy.
“The kids that actually have the mechanical devices it was tough for them to get on dirt and play," Rosas said.
“It's everybody's money — all the taxpayers have paid for this and this is something that our town has needed for a while," Montgomery said.
