Brooke Matula told 7-year-old Devyn Harrigan that he tested his swing at the Fort Challenge section of the New Morgan Wonderland Camp in San Antonio on Tuesday. Covering an area of ​​102 acres, the $34 million campground is equipped with zip lines and challenge courses, a nature center, a sports hall, and a concrete bike path.

Torye Gleitz assisted 7-year-old Devyn Harrigan to climb a rock wall at the Fort Challenge course in Morgan's Wonderland Campground in the northern suburbs of San Antonio on Tuesday. Designed by Gordon and Maggie Hartman, the campground is "super inclusive" and can be used by people with special needs.

On Tuesday morning, Gordon Hartman was interviewed by the news media before visiting Morgan's Wonderland Camp in the northern suburbs of San Antonio. This 102-acre, $34 million campsite features ziplines and challenge courses. It was inspired by Hartman’s 28-year-old daughter Morgan, who has been dealing with special physical and cognitive needs since birth .

A media tour at Morgan's Wonderland Camp in San Antonio on Tuesday. Gordon Hartman and his wife Maggie have developed an "ultra-inclusive" and barrier-free campsite in the suburbs of San Antonio that can accommodate people with special needs. This 102-acre, $34 million campground features zip lines and challenge courses. It was inspired by their 28-year-old daughter Morgan, who has been dealing with special physical and cognitive needs since she was born.

On Tuesday, Morgan's Chief Mission Officer Brooke Kearney and Brianna Troy tested one of the "ultra barrier-free" ziplines at the new Morgan Wonderland camp in the northern suburbs of San Antonio. "Briana is my roller coaster partner. She likes these types of things," said Janice Troy, Briana's mother.

On Tuesday, wheelchair basketball players played together in the Quarry Fieldhouse facility at Morgan's Wonderland Camp in the northern suburbs of San Antonio. Campers will be able to play basketball, volleyball, kimchi ball, etc. in the closed sports hall.

On Tuesday, 11-year-old David Harrigan climbed a rock wall on the Fort Challenge course in Morgan's Wonderland camp in the northern suburbs of San Antonio. Designed by Gordon and Maggie Hartman, the campground is "super inclusive" and can be used by people with special needs.

Morgan's Wonderland Camp is located in 102 acres of farmland in the northern suburbs of San Antonio. Its design takes into account the often overlooked population: people with special needs and disabilities.

"If I call 10 camps and say,'Do you have any restrictions?', they will start reading these restrictions to me:'Well, you are too old. You are too young. The price is too high. If you We can’t accept you with that problem. We don’t have anything of that kind. We ticked every box to give everyone a chance to come,” said founder Gordon Hartman.

To this end, Morgan’s Wonderland Camp is equipped with a customized adaptation that constitutes the core elements of summer fun-swinging, swimming, ziplining, horse riding, sports, eating s'mores, singing campfire songs-abilities that everyone can use .

The target audience of the camp took effect on Tuesday morning. Eight men played wheelchair basketball and crossed the court at an alarming speed, trying to grab the ball from the opponent. One person made a basket and won applause from the audience. The two boys climbed the 30-foot-high rock wall because the pulley system ensured a safe climb. The staff in blue shirts with the campsite logo butterfly watched their progress with vigilant eyes.

On ExpressNews.com: Morgan's Wonderland Camp brings communities together

Although it may not be obvious to an inadvertent observer, most of the facilities and equipment of the campground have been modified to ensure that they are sufficiently inclusive. The main swimming pool has a zero depth or waterfront entrance passage, which means it can accommodate wheelchairs. After the focus group told camp personnel that the showers were insufficient, the bathtub was installed in the cabin bathroom. Climbers can choose from a range of climbing harnesses, including a bag with medical equipment such as a ventilator and oxygen tank.

"These things are not difficult to do-it's just that we never take the time to do it. But when we start to observe the number of people who have to sit on the sidelines or just not participate in something many times, it is millions of people, tens of millions. People. We need to change this, this is the beginning of (change)," Hartman said.

On Tuesday, October 12, 2021, Mario Wright tested a waterproof wheelchair in the new Sihai swimming pool in Morgan's Wonderland Camp, located in the northern suburbs of San Antonio. Move around the pool.

The name of the camp implies its spirit of tolerance. Morgan is the daughter of Hartman and his wife Maggie. She was born with special physical and cognitive needs, which ultimately inspired her parents to act for her honor. In the past ten years, in addition to new campgrounds, they have also carefully planned the development of a barrier-free water park and sports complex. "At the same time," the Morgan Inclusion Initiative website noted, "other ambitious projects are in the pipeline."

"You know, people often ask,'Well, this was created because of Morgan?' No. This is because Morgan has certain needs, but the needs are huge, so what we try to do is to cover as many of these as possible The requirements-almost all of these requirements-make it very accessible," Hartman said.

Registration for the 2021 Fall Camp will begin on Friday morning and end in the afternoon of the same day. Residents of Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and California are all represented.

On Tuesday, October 12, 2021, Morgan's Chief Mission Officer Brooke Kearney and Brianna Troy tested one of the "ultra barrier-free" ziplines at the new Morgan Wonderland camp in the northern suburbs of San Antonio.

"I think that as we are about to become fully operational in 2022, this list will definitely increase," said Bob McCullough, director of public relations.

This is the demand for more than 200 people on the waiting list.

In addition to the swimming pool and rock wall, the campsite also has stables, fire pit, library, medical center, archery range, amphitheater, art studio named after Maggie and 20 cabins of different sizes. Following the popular saying in the disabled community, "Without us, we have nothing", most of them are based on the opinions of people with special needs and disabilities.

"We don't just do it in the office. We bring in caregivers and people with special needs, parents, uncles, aunts and siblings," Hartman said.

In addition to removing physical barriers for the disabled to participate in activities, Morgan's Wonderland Camp also strives to eliminate economic barriers. Family weekend camps are open from Friday to Sunday, free for people with special needs or disabilities, and relatively cheap for their families.

The construction of the camp took 16 months with a capital of 34 million U.S. dollars, of which only Valero Energy Company had 15 million U.S. dollars.

Caroline Tien is a researcher at Hearst.