When Dr. Barbara Rolnick isn’t assisting patients at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Pediatric Primary Care in Roxborough, she tends to her plot at a community garden in Ardmore. There, she formed a friendship with fellow gardener Sana Garner and met her infant son, Apollo.

A few years after the first meet, Rolnick noticed Apollo wasn’t visiting the garden as much.

Garner’s son, now 6 years old, has cerebral palsy, a group of conditions that affect a person’s movement, balance and posture. Garner wants to bring her son to the green space, but doing so is now a harder physical feat. The long path to the garden doesn’t accommodate his wheelchair, as it’s unpaved and full of tree roots and grass.

When Rolnick told Garner about her program Prescribe Outside, which connects Philadelphia families with nature, Garner told her, “Remember Apollo and kids like Apollo when you’re planning. Kids in wheelchairs need to go out into nature too,” Rolnick recalled.

Rolnick was recently awarded a $10,000 grant to launch an initiative that addresses the concerns of families like Garner’s.

The Apollo Project, managed by Awbury Arboretum’s Prescribe Outside program, aims to increase access to nature-based programming for children who use wheelchairs and walkers. Prescribe Outside and other stakeholders will conduct a year-long process to tackle obstacles to green spaces for children with mobility needs in Philadelphia.

The project is funded by a Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) planning grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics and is a continuation of Prescribe Outside, an initiative that provides families opportunities to spend time outdoors for their physical and mental health. Prescribe Outside, funded mostly through the state, collaborates with pediatric healthcare providers and hosts free nature-based programs in Northwest Philadelphia and throughout the city.

The Apollo Project aligns with its mission to address health disparities and increase equitable access to safe green spaces for families in Philadelphia. That includes people of all abilities.

“There’s a lot of kids that can’t join us because a lot of the trails have tree roots and they’re not paved or they’re too steep an incline,” Rolnick said.

Prescribe Outside Project Manager Grace Parker said the grant will be used for planning purposes. Over the next year, the Apollo Project organizers will create a community advisory board of families, healthcare providers and advocates to exchange ideas at virtual meetings. Those interested in joining can email prescribeoutside@awbury.org.

“We just don’t know what we don’t know,” Parker said. “And there’s very likely other organizations that are doing adaptive inclusive programming. There’s, of course, families who have perspectives to offer.”

They will use participants’ input to pilot an outdoor nature program.

Prescribe Outside will also scan inclusive outdoor spaces in Philadelphia and collaborate with organizations that serve children with mobility challenges.

“We’re in the exploratory phase of finding out what’s out there. And if we find that these places don’t exist, then we’ll fight to make them exist,” Rolnick said.

The goal of the year-long process is to have a framework for the initiative, so that Prescribe Outside can apply for the next round of funding. This plan could include a more permanent program within Prescribe Outside and/or working directly with other organizations, Parker said.

Garner, who plans to be a member of the advisory committee, says she’s grateful for Prescribe Outside’s work and that the project is named after her son. Nicknamed “Earth Mama Sana” by her friends, Garner grew up in Oakland hiking with her dad and cousins.

“It’s just so important for human development and connection to the world at large to be in nature,” she said.

She wants her son to reap these benefits. Their current go-to outdoor space is Germantown’s Awbury Arboretum, which has paved routes and accessible bathrooms for people with mobility needs. She wants to take him to more places throughout Philadelphia.

Researchers have linked spending time in nature to cognitive and health improvements. Nature prescriptions, where providers recommend patients spend time in nature rather than provide medication, is a growing practice in the United States and is the basis of Prescribe Outside. Outdoor programming is especially crucial in the current digital age, Rolnick said in a previous interview. More than half of teenagers spend at least four hours a day on social media, according to a 2023 survey by Gallup.

“This is an essential part of our health, in terms of it boosts your immune system. It helps your brain function better, and it really helps with dealing with stress and anxiety,” she said in the most recent interview.

“It’s one of the best medicines out there,” she added.

Abby Weiss is an environmental reporter for the Local and a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at abby@chestnuthilllocal.com.