By JON HARRISON/Staff Writer

Pelham- On Jan. 19 after Governor Bentley has been sworn in for a second term, Dustin Chandler and his family will be participating in the inaugural parade representing Carly’s Clubhouse, an all-inclusive playground to be built in Pelham.

Carly’s Clubhouse will be Alabama’s first fully accessible playground for both the typical and non-typical community.

Chandler got the inspiration from his daughter, Carly, who was born with CDLK5. There is no cure for this disease, which causes Carly to have severe seizures and developmental delays in all aspects.

“We plan on handing out flyers and carrying a banner for the city of Pelham,” said Chandler. “We want to bring awareness to the vision that we have for this playground.”

Carly’s Clubhouse was nominated to be in the parade by Alabama District 15 Representative Allen Farley, R-McCalla. Farley sponsored Carly’s Law, a law that legalized the use of marijuana-derived cannabidiol for medicinal use.
“My absolute amazement is what led me to nominate Carly’s Clubhouse to be in the parade,” said Farley. “Through the process of sponsoring Carly’s Law, I got to know Dustin and Amy, and their family and when I got the call to nominate a special group of people to have a float in the parade I knew that it would mean something to nominate them.”

“We hope that this will have a big impact on the special needs community and show members of the typical community what true inclusion is,” said Chandler.

Farley said that the people need to know about projects like Carly’s Clubhouse so groups all over the state can understand how important it is and how much it would mean to the special needs community for there to be more all-inclusive playgrounds in the state.

“Through Carly’s Clubhouse being in this parade, maybe someone who owns a company or is unaware of the Chandlers’ cause will be inspired to donate to their cause,” said Farley. “That’s the way God works.”

Members from both the typical and non-typical community will be walking in the parade with the Carly’s Clubhouse float.

For more information on Carly’s Clubhouse visit CarlysClubhouse.org.