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Unitarian Church of Sharon
4 N. Main St.
Sharon, MA 02067
781-784-3652
E-mail UCS
Project AIM: Barriers to Access
What would it feel like to have limitations on where you could go or
what you could do? What if every time you left your house it was a
chore to do the simple tasks of living? What if you had to think about
and prepare for your route with the same attention as an officer planning
a military mission? What if people around you made you feel you were
in their way or openly made comments about you to each other, leaving
you feeling angry or embarrassed? What if when someone was helpful
it didn?t always feel like they were helping because you wanted to
do it yourself?
While many of us may not think of ourselves as disabled, I bet that most
of us have had one or more of the feelings above. Perhaps you did as
a child, when someone else was in charge of deciding what you would do;
or as a new parent, when the overwhelming amount of baby gear made each
errand a field expedition. Perhaps you even had a brush with disability
yourself, or among close family or friends. Maybe you know all too well
how it feels to have barriers to access to places and things you want
to do.
If it has been a longish time since you felt like this I ask you to imagine
you are disabled and on crutches. Now think about what you would have
to do to get into our church. Would you be scared to climb the stairs?
Could you balance and pull open the doors to the sanctuary? Could you
maneuver into one of the pews? What if it were crowded? How about getting
downstairs to the vestry for coffee hour?
Now imagine you are in a wheelchair… or have weakness or joint problems
that make it difficult to pull open a door or turn the doorknob… or
you have breathing or circulation problems that make exertion difficult.
It might be so discouraging thinking about the barriers you might not
want to come to church at all! While one or more Sunday absences might
not bother you, what if the barriers led to you giving up coming to church
altogether?
Our future accessibility addition (which will also serve as our new "Main
Entrance") will contain an elevator linking the three levels (sanctuary,
ground and vestry level) next to a stairway and an airy vestibule entered
by easily opened doors.
When I think about it, I think about how the addition would make me feel
if I were on crutches, or in a wheelchair; or had weakness, joint disease,
breathing or circulatory problems. I think how I would feel if I were
a new parent lugging the baby stuff, if I had a disabled friend or family
member I wanted to invite to church, or if I just wanted to get up or
downstairs on a snowy day without risking a slip and fall.
That feeling of barriers lowered, that sense of safety, of welcome, of
freedom is why I believe this project is worth doing.
Linda Godfrey-Bailey
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