The (Star)Bucks Stops Here

In early March of this year, a group of deaf people were holding their monthly meeting at a Starbucks in lower Manhattan.  Part of a national effort called Deaf Chat Coffee, they were gathered together to socialize over coffee and pastries purchased at the coffee outlet.  Suddenly, their meeting was interrupted by police officers who had been summoned to the store by Starbucks workers.  The workers claimed that the group was creating a disturbance, conducting a meeting without a permit, and were not purchasing items from the store.  None of these allegations were true and the police officers apologized to the group, finding no illegal conduct.  In addition to harassing the group by calling the police, one Starbucks employee allegedly laughed hysterically at the speech of one member of the group and other deaf customers claimed that they were refused service.  In one case, a Starbucks employee who knew some sign language tried to assist the deaf customers and was reprimanded by another employee.

When a complaint was filed with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and other upper management staff, an executive apologized and tried to assuage the group by offering them a preloaded Starbucks gift card.    That wasn’t enough for these customers and they promptly filed a lawsuit, now pending in Federal Court.  (To their credit, Starbucks subsequently published a post on their website decrying discrimination in any form and outlining the ways in which they intentionally support Deaf partners and customers.)  http://www.starbucks.com/blog/starbucks-on-inclusion-of-deaf-community/1262

For those Unitarian Universalists who don’t think that matters related to inclusion of people with disabilities is a social justice issue, think again.  If this action had been perpetrated against a group of LGBT persons or persons of color, the uproar would have been deafening (no pun intended).  But because it happens to a group of people whose rights are not nearly trumpeted as much as those of other marginalized groups, it gets a 10 second spot on the local news right before sports and weather.

There are a group of UU congregations who are planning a joint worship event in the fall.  The idea was raised to hire a sign language interpreter for attendees who are deaf.  I was told that there was resistance to the idea since some members of the planning committee felt that it wasn’t necessary.  Thanks to the persistence of one member of the committee, the idea was adopted and the interpreter was hired.

We have a long way to go in recognizing and acknowledging the rights of people with disabilities, both in the outside world and within our Unitarian Universalist communities.  Let’s start talking about it in our congregations.  I’ll be happy to discuss it with you anytime, perhaps over a cup of coffee?

  

With respect,

Mark Bernstein, CERG  Consultant and UUA Liaison to Equual Access

One Step At A Time

Accessibility Floor Mats Adorn the
Floor of UUFCC

On the home page of its website, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County (UUFCC), located in State College, PA, includes the following statement: We welcome participation in our services and activities by all persons without regard to age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, gender or sexual orientation.

And guess what? They mean it. When you walk into their beautiful sanctuary, one of the things that you notice are several spaces among the rows of chairs with blue mats placed on the floor. Printed on the mats is the wheelchair logo, the universal symbol of accessibility. The floor mats are attractive and blend seamlessly with the dark blue of the surrounding chairs. More importantly, they signal to the congregation and to those visiting that this is a place where all are welcome; that we have room here for all.

The Fellowship’s Minister, Rev. Mark Hayes, says, “Rather than shuffling chairs around, we wanted to be more intentional and more welcoming.”

Their intentionality extends also to those with hearing disabilities. The sanctuary has a two level looping system, which enables anyone with a hearing aid to listen clearly and free of other distracting noise in the environment without the use of a separate receiver and headset.

UUFCC is just one of many Unitarian Universalist congregations that are committed to greater comfort and inclusion of people with disabilities in worship and congregational life. The Unitarian Church of Barneveld, located in Central New York State, is a small congregation with a very big heart. In the spring of 2012, they dedicated their recently completed ramp access. The ramp, which provides access to the lower building’s social area, was built with donations from members and friends, UU related funding, and hours of volunteer labor. For the time being, access to the building will only allow individuals to hear the worship service, but the good people of Barneveld are not done. Phase two of the plan will be the installation of a lift from the ground floor to the sanctuary.

As journalist and social activist Dorothy Day wrote so eloquently, “People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time." The people of Centre County and the people of Barneveld, one step at a time, are building monuments to our faith and to our commitment to be a religion for all.

Thanks to Ellen Asprooth, St. Lawrence District Reporter, for contributing to this blog.

Mark Bernstein
CERG Growth Consultant and UUA Liaison to Equual Access

Make your congregations loopy! by Carol Agate

There is a big push this year in the hearing loss community to get more places looped, and churches are the places they are emphasizing.
 
So what's looping? First, here's how it works without looping. You go into an auditorium - or sanctuary - and sit through a lecture - or worship service - struggling to understand the words that often come through the loudspeakers as a garble. Or it might be like swiss cheese; you understand most of it but there are a lot of holes. Or maybe your church has assistive listening devices. The chances are that you can't find anyone who knows where they are. Or you get one and find the battery is dead. And if everything does work fine you first have to remove your hearing aids to put on headphones or an ear bud - hoping you don't lose the hearing aids and the ear pieces are clean.

Here's how it works if your church is looped. You enter, take you seat, flip the telecoil switch on your hearing aid, and enjoy all the sounds coming right into your ear. There's none of the distortion you get with a loudspeaker. There are no devices to maintain.

Looping can be expensive, depending on the size of your sanctuary. But once it's done it's practically maintenance-free. Almost everywhere you go in Western Europe you find auditoriums that are looped. In Michigan, too. Wisconsin's on its way. Contact me (carolagate at mac.com) if you want more information on installing a loop around the perimeter of your sanctuary.