Wildcat Inn unveils new playground for kids and their families

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Families at the Wildcat Inn in midtown are celebrating the opening of a brand-new playground.

This new playground is the latest improvement in a years-long project to turn the Wildcat Inn into a safe space for the community.

Sandra Skriletz was looking for a safe place for her and her kids to live.

"I was on the street with my kids, we had gotten evicted, and I went to CBI," Skriletz said. "They had brought me to here."

Skriletz says it was the community at Wildcat that made her and her kids feel at home.

"My son, Hunter, is my youngest, "Skriletz said. "He’s my little fierce warrior, and my daughter Harley is my little princess."

Wanting to keep kids like them safe is what inspired the Wildcat Inn to open this new playground.

"It is the most amazing experience I could ever imagine," Skriletz said. "I am so blessed for the opportunity and the experience. The fact that it’s gated and now there’s a playground here, it makes it safer for us single moms to be okay with the fact that we can stay here with our kids."

The city of Tucson opened Wildcat Inn as a transitional housing shelter in 2022.

Since then, the city has improved the former motel with nearly $252 thousand from the Community Development Block Grant and $109 thousand from the Storm to Shade Program.

These funds, which helped build the playground along with a patio, a canopy, and stormwater infrastructure, are currently giving over 80 people, including 35 children, a safe haven.

The population that we serve here I think, helps us grow as a community, and having the opportunity to help these people in their situation makes a big difference to me, and I hold dear to my heart as having that lived experience," Marcelina Rojas, Wildcat Inn Shelter Supervisor, stated. "I think this is gonna help our kids believe in a better future, you know, and give them some hope, and I think that’ll make a big difference."