Ribbon Cutting for New Accessible Ramp to Garden

Join us on Friday, August 16, at 6:30 PM as we dedicate and cut the ribbon on our new ramp to the Rose Garden.

In the spring of 2014, Rebecca Gordon, daughter of Darcy and Mike Gordon, was finalizing the preparations for her Bat Mitzvah. Since it would be a summer event, the Gordons hoped to use Temple Sinai's beautiful Rose Garden for part of their celebration. But there was a problem. Rebecca's cousin, Elisabeth, uses a wheelchair and couldn't get into the garden. How could Rebecca have a celebration without her cousin?

Rebecca decided she was going to help make the Rose Garden accessible to everyone as part of her Bat Mitzvah project. Her efforts resulted in starting conversations with the Rabbis and Temple leadership, raising awareness among members and prompting initial site surveys.

Shortly thereafter, Temple Sinai's disAbility Task Force was formed. The first thing the Task Force did was take an audit of our facilities. The Task Force determined that there were only three inaccessible places: the library, the third floor offices and the garden. Task Force made a decision that no open to the congregation events would happen in these inaccessible places.

This meant that meetings were moved out of the library and the Sukkah was moved to the front lawn. While this was a reasonable solution, it meant that our beautiful Rose Garden wouldn't ever be used.

The Task Force approached the Charles M. Morris Charitable Trust for funds to support the building a ramp into the garden. The foundation was happy to help us fully utilize our building and grounds.

What started as a Bat Mitzvah project five years ago has now become a reality.  Please join the Gordon family, members of the disAbility Task Force and representatives of Charles Morris Foundation as we dedicate our new ramp. We encourage people who had trouble maneuvering the steps into the garden to join us for the ribbon cutting and then go down the ramp for a beautiful outdoor Shabbat service.