With Liberty and Accessibility for All

My virtual coffee hour at First Parish of Portland for A Church for Every Body Campaign!

Many within the disability community are experiencing a difficult time due to the Covid-19 virus. We all are concerned about the lack of preparation and planning for the protection and preservation of the civil rights of the disability community during this crisis. However, I wanted to share my experience with First Parish of Portland, an incredible place of worship in Maine, to highlight some of the good work that is still going on even during this crisis.

Last Sunday on May 24th, I was invited to the First Parish in Portland Maine, to participate in their virtual coffee hour via zoom.

Annette Pimentel, author of “All the Way to the Top,” my illustrated biography, contacted me with exciting news saying that she was contacted by a Unitarian Universalist minister in Portland, Maine, who was planning a Church service on accessibility and had asked for permission to use our book in their Church service.

They expressed interest in the possibility of me joining them for a Zoom chat during their virtual coffee hour. She further explained that they are trying to put an elevator into their building and improve the accessibility of the building for people with disabilities.

She then got me in touch with Toben Cooney-Callnan, who was in charge of the “Time for all ages” part of the service, and Toben in-turn referred me to Stephanie Desrochers, who was in charge of the sermon with the title and theme “With liberty and Accessibility for All” which is part of their “A Church for every body campaign.”

This immediately began to peak my interest, so I agreed to share my work email with them and we began to immediately correspond with each other. By Saturday, we were set up for a practice zoom meeting and Stephanie told me about the history of First Parish of Portland.

First Parish has a long rich history that goes as far back as when the early settlers came to Maine and founded the city of Portland. The church was the first church built in the state of Maine in 1674. The state constitution of Maine was drafted in the church in 1819 and the construction of the current building began in 1825 and reached completion by 1826. The Church was added to the national historical register of historic places in 1973.
I then asked Stephanie to share with me more information about the “Church for every body campaign” and their work to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. She told me that the Church has been trying to get money to make the building more accessible and accommodating to people with disabilities since the early 1970s. However, it was only recently that they were able to obtain enough money to reach 92% of their goal.

The funds that are generated from this campaign will not only be used to put in an elevator for the building but will be used to increase overall access. For example, this would include a fully accessible kitchen and a bathroom with a roll-in shower and bars. Accessibility features would include a system throughout the building that would accommodate people with visual, auditory and sensory disabilities.

First Parish of Portland would like to be a part of the “Safe Place to Rest Project”. This project enables organizations to set up shelters to help those who are in need of a safe place especially when homeless shelters are already at capacity. The funds generated from the campaign would make accessibility a reality for people with disabilities. From personal experience, the need for accessible shelters is a very important issue and I was pleased to hear about their commitment to include the need for accessibility for this purpose because not all homeless shelters are accessible to people with disabilities.

First Parish of Portland is fully committed to making their historic building become fully accessible and welcoming to all. This not only is reflected in this unwavering campaign, but it is also reflective in my understanding of the values and principles of the Church itself; to fully accept someone on the basis that they are human rather than ability, societal norms, and expectations.

As I listen to this Sunday service, with sample readings from: “A Disability History of the United States” by Kim Nielsen and “Being Heumann: Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist” by Judith Heumann, I was reminded of the lessons that were taught to me by Justin Dart Junior, and Wade Blank about disability rights and justice. Because this is what it means to be a truly inclusive society.

Justin always said to me that “disability is part of the human process and human experience. Therefore, only when this is fully recognized, will society along with the individual, truly reach their full potential.”

When first Parish of Portland invited me to participate in their virtual coffee hour for Sunday service, I felt truly honored to be involved. Because, while they wanted to talk to me about my justice work I felt it was important to commemorate them for their “justice work” and their commitment to “ A Church For Every Body” renovation project.

“Accessibility is a Justice Issue” Stephanie Desrochers, In the sermon: With Liberty and Accessibility for All, May 24, 2020.

To view the entire sermon please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/firstparishportlandme/videos/302707014060744/

To find out more about the “ A Church for every body campaign” at First Parish of Portland, please visit their website at FirstParishPortland.org or email Austin Farrar at ahfarrar47@gmail.com.