LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — The Acadiana Outreach Center is facing safety concerns as decaying trees threaten the playground used by children from families staying at the shelter.

The center, which provides shelter to families, including children, has had to restrict access to its playground due to the danger posed by dying water oak trees.

“If we could, we’d write a check and it’d be done,” said Bruce Gilcrease, Executive Director of the Acadiana Outreach Center. “We currently have six families, 16 children living in our shelter.”

The playground, once a vibrant area for children to play, is now off-limits due to the risk of falling limbs from the decaying trees. Earlier this year, one of the trees fell, necessitating the removal of the tree and repairs to the fence.

Despite having strong support from the community, the center lacks the funds necessary to address the current tree situation.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.

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