The Heart Behind What We Do Part 2: Play for All

Mendo LEAP is more than just a play place: it’s a community hub.

After all of the stress and loneliness we experienced during the pandemic, Jonathan and I decided to provide a space where families could play and enjoy their time together. We saw how important play was in our own little family. We saw that we had a really cool backyard with fun things to play on and my kids had their own playroom with everything they could ever want...but if the kids next door don't have those things, and the students in our kids classes don't have those and aren't able to benefit from the joy of play, then what's the point of us enjoying it all by ourselves?

Meeting families at school, on the playground, and in the neighborhood who didn't have the play-centered life that we had…it didn't seem fair. We wanted to share that with others...but how could we? Before the financial devastation of the pandemic, we were struggling to “keep up with the Joneses”. 

Pre-pandemic, I would describe our family as fortunate and privileged. We worked very hard for what we had. We had chased the American dream and put our blood, sweat, and tears into our figurative “white picket fence” life. But once we got there...that was it. We had the “things”. 

We took a step back and examined our lives. Where was the true value in life? Not in things, we realized. But in the connections we had with each other. We saw how important play was in our relationship with our tiny children, as well as our relationship with each other as a couple. We wanted that for others. We wanted to share that love for connection as a family and as a couple, attained through play, with others! 

I did some research and saw that if we all–as a community–contributed a little then we all, as a community, could benefit a lot from play. That was when the idea of Mendo LEAP was conceived.

An early iteration of the Mendo LEAP playspace.