Ditmas Park Moms Develop Parent-Run Play Space

Two neighborhood mothers are spearheading the effort to establish a parent-run play space for local parents and children to call their own. 

Ditmas Park's Judith Muñoz and Nancy Rawlinson decided it was time to begin such a space after the immensely popular It Takes a Village opened its doors in Crown Heights, ushering in a community experience for local families with children under the age of 4.

Rawlinson, who is friends with the Village's founder and executive director Michael de Zayas, helped to get the space ready.

"I said to him, 'This is a brilliant idea!'" said Rawlinson, mother of two boys under the age of three. "But this is very much a neighborhood idea. You need something local. I want something local."

Muñoz agreed, saying she had wanted something like this since she had her now 15-month-old daughter. "I've always wanted to build some community," she said. "Having a child can be an isolating experience. The only thing I wanted to was have a space to hang out with my mom friends."   

And when Rawlinson indicated she wanted to create such a space on an email list-serv, Muñoz jumped on board. 

"We had loads of people emailing [indicating interest], and we scheduled a meeting. And besides myself and Michael, Judith was the only one who came," Rawlinson said with a laugh. "It was a tough weekend, right after the holidays and people forgot about it. So we said 'you win a prize! Unpaid labor!'" 

So the two got to work and have been plotting out the details ever since. 

Rawlinson said they have been busy searching for a space, and noted Newkirk Avenue will likely be the southern most border and Beverly Road will likely be the northern most border for places to be considered. "Church Avenue has Lark, and Avenue H has Midwood Martial Arts," she explained.

She said the space should ideally be at least 700 square feet, with some outside area. That much space will allow enough room for different age groups, as the pair is leaning toward having a toddler area and an infant area.

"[We need] a small kitchen area, and would make it available to members for birthday parties," Rawlinson continued. "We've talked about a commercial space, and talked about renting out the first floor of a Victorian house; that would have a nice allure."

Still much-discussed is the age cut-off. "It's geared toward young children," said Muñoz.

"We haven't finally decided what cut-off would be," Rawlinson added. "Maybe 5- or 6-years-old, with allowance that whatever the cut-off is, older children can come with siblings, but not independently. We want to make it user friendly for parents. If it's not user-friendly, what's the point?"

And creating a user-friendly space for parents to go is the entire point, they said.

"It's the idea of it being a home away from home," Muñoz said. "You go to the library, you go to Lark and you meet people, and that's great. But we want a place we can go to all the time. You have a key and you can leave stuff there. That's the difference."

Rawlinson agreed, noting that creating a space solves the problem of accessibility. "There been so many times I've wanted to go somewhere," she said. "So many times I've been desperate for a play date. I tick off all the options and there's a draw back with every place." 

Rawlinson will serve as the Ditmas Park play space's executive director, and Muñoz as the assistant director of programming, but the two are looking for more hands to aid the efforts. 

The pair is looking for an assistant director for fundraising, as well as people with experience in finances, bookkeeping, marketing and operations. Those interested in becoming involved in developing the parent-run play space can reach Rawlinson at nancyrawlinson@gmail.com and Muñoz at jserlin@gmail.com.