Accessibility & Inclusion

To be disabled is to be constantly confronted with assumptions about how your life is and opinions about how your life ought to be. Ableism is alive and well because of our collective discomfort with disability. The dominant narratives about being disabled are that it is either the worst-case scenario or something inspirational, when most of us are just trying to go about our lives with dignity and authenticity.
– Mikayla Kurkjian, UUCC member

Welcome! If you have questions about what accessibility is like at UUCC on Sunday mornings, go here.

Accessibility & Inclusion Committee members: Suzi Gerb, Pamela Henry, Mikayla Kurkjian, Hannah Nelson, Reginald Nettles, Sherry Peruzzi, Jen Siegal, Fynn Sorensen, Amber Stone, Lindsay Thompson

It can be a challenge for anyone organizing an event to fully include those among us with disabilities and challenges. Each event, whether it’s a Sunday service, a celebration, an extended outing, or a small gathering, has its unique pitfalls that might threaten its accessibility. To help organizers, the UUCC Accessibility & Inclusion Committee has compiled this guide as a checklist to make sure you have considered all the ways your event needs to be inclusive.

View event organizer sensitivity guide

The UUCC Accessibility committee welcomes you to the Disability Social Group: calm and low-stress! The group started with a first in-person gathering in February 2025 and is a space for those who have a disability, chronic illness, mental health issues, and/or are neurodivergent. Our goal is to create a community space where we can support each other and have fun. Click the button below to join the discussion in our Realm group.

Disability Realm Group

Accessibility Survey Update | May 2024

UUCC’s Accessibility Committee has been reviewing the results from the accessibility survey and begun work on a few of the suggestions. We know it is important to update the congregation so you know your voices have been heard and taken seriously. There are still many more comments that we are looking into and if you do not see something you mentioned in the list below, know that we have it and are considering every comment and giving each one time and space.

Progress to date

Building doors
- We have reported your concerns about the automatic doors not always being turned on to the appropriate parties.
- Additionally, the doors to the building have been repaired (this was accomplished by Owen Brown Interfaith Center (OBIC) staff before the Accessibility Committee even looked at survey responses; thanks, OBIC staff!).
Coffee hour
- We have arranged for more chairs and tables in coffee hour to accommodate more people’s needs to sit.
- We have also arranged for the doors to outside to be kept open on nice days to provide more seating and a place for congregants to take a break from the stimulation of coffee hour.
Worship seating
- We have arranged for a dozen arm chairs to be scattered among Sanctuary C seating on Sundays, with open spaces next to them–this has been in place for about 6 months now.
  - These seats are intended for people who need arms on the chairs for any multitude of accessibility reasons.
  - The empty spaces near them are for people with wheelchairs, strollers, walkers, canes, or other equipment that need space to exist.
  - We’ve created signs for the seats with arms to indicate that they are priority seating.
Water fountain
- The upstairs water fountain has been fixed. OBIC staff took care of this before our work on the survey began.
Lighting
- OBIC management and UUCC volunteers have been discussing and addressing lighting issues before our work on the survey.
  - You may notice improved lighting throughout the building over time. This is thanks to the OBIC board and staff, and will result in significant efficiency savings.
  - UUCC staff and sound team are looking into the sanctuary stage lighting–there are bulbs out and they are very costly to replace!