Improving Access for Persons with Limited Mobility
MSU Tollgate Farm and Education Center provides hands-on experiences for youth and adults in a production agriculture setting. We connect people to the source of their food and the natural world. Unfortunately, individuals with limited mobility, because of a wheelchair, or walker, have difficulty participating. Often, schools do not bring students in wheelchairs on field trips because they know it will be difficult to navigate the farm. The farm is committed to finding creative ways to serve all individuals regardless of their physical abilities and seeks to purchase a custom trailer with a wheelchair ramp that can be pulled behind a pick-up truck. The trailer would be easy to use, require little maintenance, and enable program staff to navigate the main pathways around the site for many years to come. This grant proposal is a part of a wider initiative to improve accessibility at the farm.