Funding Needs for Play Advocacy and Sustainability

The importance and accessibility of play in our lives is often taken for granted and not prioritized in our communities and schools. Play advocates work tirelessly to change this mindset through education, research, and providing more play resources to more people. In this episode, Dr. Rhea sits down with Out to Play founder, Bethany Fort, to discuss one of the biggest challenges play advocates face when making these changes – lack of funding – and why funding is necessary for the sustainment of play. Bethany Fort has an M.A. in Children's Literature and an M.S. in Library Science. She managed family programs at Arlington Public Library for 7 years before co founding Out to Play. Out to Play is a 501(c)(3) outreach organization that brings mobile nature play spaces to play deserts in Fort Worth. She co-founded Out to Play with Green Space Learning in 2021. Read more about the work we are doing at www.outtoplaytx.com! Resources mentioned in this episode: Out to Play Lowe’s Foundation The Welman Project LiiNK Center Resources