SPRINGFIELD — The Effingham Navigator Team Inc. and its supporters are blazing a trail they hope others will follow to help the developmentally disabled feel included.

Lynette Bragg, current chair of the Disability Advisory Council for Georgia and Navigator Team leader, arranged a Friday meeting at Josh Reddick Stadium to tout the progress that has been made here in recent years. 

South Effingham coach Todd Eubanks said his baseball team has developed a relationship with the Navigator Team during a recent series of games. He said 48 of the 52 players in his program showed up for the first game.

Tommy Morgan, vice president of the South Effingham Baseball Boosters said, “I think our kids get more out of it than the Navigators do when they come out here.”

Josh Reddick Stadium has been a boon for disabled children. It was built with them in mind.

Effingham Recreation and Parks Director Clarence Morgan said, “When we started this (recreation) complex, one of our goals was an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), all-inclusive playground. We’ve got a first-class ADA playground out there.”

He said the idea was one that came out of stakeholder meetings, adding, “The good Lord blesses those who care.”

Bragg added, “This is not something that just magically appeared. This is years of people understanding, seeing, feeling we need to do a little bit more.”

Local government leaders, educators and state health officials, including the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Ron Wakefield, attended the meeting which was followed by lunch and a round-table  discussion at Effingham College and Career Academy.

See the Oct. 3 edition of the Effingham Herald for more details.