Our congregation strives to be a place where people of all abilities and disabilities are welcomed, valued, and affirmed. We strive to be inclusive of people with differing levels of motor, vision, and hearing, people with invisible disabilities, and those with learning and/or psychiatric disabilities.
Nearly 50 million people (1 in 5 of the U.S. population) in the United States have a disability—visible or invisible, public or private. For everyone, whether having a disability or not, the environment in which we live, learn, play, sing, work, meditate, reflect, and pray must feel welcoming for everyone to grow and thrive.
PARKING: Our main parking lot has two van accessible parking spaces. Additionally, we encourage our membership to leave the main parking area open for visitors and those with limited mobility.
MOBILITY assistance:
Our Main Fellowship lot has accessible parking, and there is a curb ramp to the front door available for those with mobility limitations.
Our buildings are accessible for those who use wheelchairs as well as those with limited mobility. The sanctuary, lobby, and kitchen are wheelchair accessible, and our upper-level family/gender neutral restrooms are wheelchair accessible and have handrails.
The downstairs Religious Exploration spaces are not as accessible as we wish, but there is a sidewalk ramp to the downstairs areas. We are working on better wheelchair access to our entire building for the future.
VISION assistance: Large print hymnals and Orders of Service are available from greeters at the entrance to the sanctuary before the service on Sunday mornings.
(If you would like to donate a large print hymnal or a braille hymnal, contact the office. Members and visitors appreciate your support!)
HEARING assistance: We have external headsets available for those with limited hearing. You can obtain a headset from a greeter at all services. Additionally, a live feed audio of the service is piped into the foyer so it can still be heard by those who need to leave the sanctuary for any reason.
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: If you would like your child to participate in a religious education program and feel that they may require special accommodation due to learning disabilities or behavioral issues, please contact our Religious Education Team in advance so the best possible arrangements can be made.
CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY: We encourage our members to limit strong perfumes, scents, and colognes to respect those with chemical sensitivities. Our services use odorless candles. Restroom soaps are scent-free. All our buildings are smoke-free.
SERVICE ANIMALS: We welcome service dogs throughout the buildings for all activities. There are grassy areas outdoors for service dogs to relieve themselves.
PASTORAL CARE: We provide pastoral care to all members regardless of ability.
If there are issues of accessibility not already in place, please get in touch or let one of our Sunday service greeters know when you arrive.
And if you would like an orientation tour of the church during the week, contact the office to make arrangements at (479) 521-8422 or email uuff.ar@gmail.com
