We can call her the playground expert now. Niki Avina of Highland, Indiana has made a hobby of researching, critiquing, and hunting for the best playgrounds. For her children, this means weekend road tripping to parks, playing on the swings, and laughing on their way down slippery slides.
For Avina, this hobby means bringing her research back to her community to find the best playground equipment to be shared and enjoyed by all children with and without disabilities.
Avina lived in Portage growing up and after attending college, she and her husband returned to the Northwest Indiana area, settling in Highland.
She graduated the University of Evansville with a degree in elementary education before obtaining her Masters of Education from Indiana University Wesleyan.
It was at Evansville when she met Mary Martinez, who is the co-founder of Hannah’s Hope, the non-profit organization that was started after their daughter was born with severe brain damage.
Seeing the difficulty of raising a child with special needs and drawn to helping her friends, Avina instantly joined the board of Hannah’s Hope as secretary.
“I just saw the amount of equipment and extra money it took to have a child with special needs and I knew from teaching that was the case as well,” Avina said.
Avina taught 5th grade at Lake Central’s Kahler Mddle School for 11 years, and overall been a teacher for 15.
So, in 2010, Avina helped start Hannah’s Hope, which has since made it their mission to raise money for local community organizations that support children with special needs. The organization raises money through annual fundraisers and is currently undergoing a five-year in the making plan to build an all-inclusive playground in Portage. Now, Avina volunteers for Hannah’s Hope in her spare time. The big project she is working on is the organizing of the Playground Gala charity event, which will be the final fundraiser to help fund the playground.
The rest of her time is spent between supporting more children: her own youngsters at home and the college age kids of Calumet College of St. Joseph.
When she and her husband had their first child, now 6-years-old named Ansley, Avina decided to look for a teaching job with fewer hours.
At Calumet College, she teaches two days a week the introductory English classes, teaching the college freshman fundamental writing skills to further enhance them in college and throughout their adult lives.
“It is part time and now I’m home with my kids the rest of the week, so it is a happy medium,” she said. “I can be home with my kids and still teach.”
Avina also has a 2-year-old named Bellamy, who keeps her employed at home full time, she said laughing.
After college, Avina spent a few years living in Atlanta, Georgia, but she “didn’t last long” there and moved back to the Northwest Indiana region.
“I love a little bit of everything about here,” she said. “My family is here and they are wonderful. I have a great support system, and I cannot imagine raising my children or doing anything away from here.”
Plus, the amount of playgrounds found within Lake, La Porte, and Porter counties can keep a family busy for years.
“We are all over the place!” she said. “We have been playground hunting over the last year, so we go to every playground all over the area. My girls have really enjoyed that and we are all playground experts now.”
The Avina family is also big fans and season members of the Brookfield Zoo, where they often visit in the warm weather. They are also regular attendees of the First United Church in Hammond where Avina runs the Children’s Ministry each Sunday.
Her life centers on the lives of children from age two to 22, and over the years what she has learned has been one thing: You are never too old to enjoy a playground.
To learn more about Hannah’s Hope, click here.