TAMPA, Fla. —  The Tampa City Council has approved spending $3 million to upgrade and refit several city parks in East Tampa, West Tampa, downtown Tampa and Ybor City.

Council members say the city would like to make them more accessible for children with disabilities.

The move comes after the park behind Lewis Elementary School, equipped with a baseball field for people with disabilities, helped Phyllis Guthman's son to develop and excel for the past 15 years.

"It's a life-changing thing," Guthman said. "It's going to give you an infusion of hope and opportunity and it unifies the community."

The field offers "Buddy Baseball," a game similar to baseball but with special rules that cater to every special need, including a beep ball for visually impaired children and the help of a buddy to push children in chairs around the bases.

Phyllis believes that making city parks more user-friendly to people with disabilities can help them advocate for themselves, speak up, start and stay in conversations, and make friends.

"Make every space as inclusive as possible so that we can all learn acceptance of people's differences and we can all belong," she said.

There is currently no timeline as to when the upgrades will be installed.