Accessibility
“A Place for Everyone” is what we strive for as we welcome
members and visitors of all ages and abilities.
We strive to maintain a culture of hospitality by which people of all ages and abilities are welcome in our congregation through accessibility, welcoming, advocacy, education, awareness, outreach and other means.
Entrances and Parking
The Church parking lot at the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Adams Street. The west entrance to the church at 209 Washtenaw Ave. is handicap accessible and has an elevator to access the sanctuary and all floors. The newly renovated bathrooms on each floor are accessible. The west entrance is the main entrance during the week. There are accessible aisles in the sanctuary, and there are street curb cuts allowing easy access to the sidewalk and west entrance to the building. There is also parking available on Washtenaw Avenue on Sundays during worship. And there is public parking available on Washington Avenue and in the Ypsilanti Transit Center parking lot a half block away from the church - the church entrances on Washtenaw Avenue are used for entry when parking in these locations.
Entry Doors
Washtenaw West Entrance
This is our main entrance and is accessed from the church parking lot off Washtenaw Avenue. The 2 sets of double doors have automatic door switches. These doors enter onto the elevator level of the church building. There is a Visitor Greeter available prior to the Worship service to assist persons with entry.
Washtenaw East Entrance
These doors provide direct access to the elevator and the Sanctuary via stairs with railings.
Elevator
The elevator is located inside the Washtenaw Avenue west entrance just to the left. It goes to all 3 levels:
Lower level (elevator button 1): access to social hall.
Middle level (elevator button 3): sanctuary, infant changing room and nursery, church offices and lounge
Top level (elevator button 4): classrooms and music rooms
Seating in Sanctuary
There are pew cuts near the front of each side of the sanctuary allowing extra room for seating with wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, etc. with companion seating in the pew.
Vision and Hearing Aids
Large print bulletins & hymns are available at the entrances to the sanctuary as well as assisted listening devices. See ushers for help in locating them.
Wheel Chairs and Walkers
There is a courtesy wheel chair available next to the elevator on the ground floor and a second wheel chair near the Promenade Entrance on the first floor. This wheelchair is kept in the north closet of the narthex outside the sanctuary.
A walker is also available for use and is located in the north closet of the narthex.
Entry to Social Hall
Accessible entrance via the elevator at the west entrance to the social hall on the lower level .
Dietary
We strive to be a Peanut free environment.
Gluten free crackers are available for communion.
A pdf file of the floorplan for our downtown location is available.
Our Welcome Team works to make sure all are welcome and able to access our church facilities. Do you have a concern or suggestion about accessibility and our church? You can send your concerns or suggestions to: fumcypsi@fumcypsi.org. The contact person is Kimaro Pool, Church Administrator.
Did You Know?
Nearly 1 out of 5 people in the US have a disability and about 90% of them do not attend church.
What is Person First Language?
A common question is: “How do I talk about disabled people?” Using People or Person First language puts the person before the disability.
An example would be: “Mary, who has MS” or “the Man who is blind” instead of “the MS lady” or “the blind man.”
We are all people first. We may have disabilities – our disabilities do not have us.