Click here to see March 2023 update
The Beginnings and the Now
Two pictures: UCRP started to become accessible back in 1979 with a ramp versus 2022 removing the 42 year rusting ramp and installing a lift in 2022.
It began…
Participants pictured are: Dr. Franklin Cochran, chairperson of the Board of Trustees; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Kroll, building contractor; Lin Culbreth; Mrs. Ethel Nelson; Mrs. Carolyn Grey; Mrs. Mary Ann Swartz; Mrs. Becky Swartz; Mrs. Lavern Nichols; and Mrs. Karen McCulloh, chairperson of the Administrative Board. The ramp was finished in September 1979.
And now…
The UpLift Accessible Project in 2022
ALL STANDING CAUTIOUSLY ON THE CRIPPLINGLY STAIRS.
6 March 2022
Front Row:
Alaina Dulecki, Harper Joyce, Emma Joyce, Pastor Lindsey Joyce Long, Phillis Tholin
Middle Row:
Sherman Brown, Adam Joyce, Kate Hemingway, David Carroll,
Ron Johnson, Antoinette Senjanovich
Back Row:
EdVitte Jones, David Gunnell, Judith Muench, Jen Schmidt
2022 Uplift Accessibility Project Capital Campaign Update
Our Uplift Accessibility Project expands access to our building, services, programs, and communities by including and welcoming a previously underserved and, in some cases, unserved population. This project will expand our community services and impact to anyone in need, regardless of physical ability.
The Plan:
The Uplift Accessibility Project will create a new state-of-the-art entrance on our southwest corner, build an interior accessible ramp to our library and classrooms, as well as make space for a mechanical lift to take people up to our main floor for service. These changes will open much-needed access to our Sanctuary and community services and support. This vital investment in our building will allow our outreach programs to grow and expand in ways that will impact more people in the community. We will be able to open our doors to new participants through our various ministries and partnerships.
Phase One adds a new ground-level entrance at the Southwest corner of the building, an interior ramp going to our lower level, and a lift to take folks to our Sanctuary.
Phase Two repairs crumbling stairs leading to the west entrance to our Sanctuary.
Who We Are:
The United Church of Rogers Park [UCRP] congregation has been serving Rogers Park since 1872, and built the current building at the corner of Morse and Ashland in 1905. UCRP is a vital part of the Rogers Park community. Our worship service, building, and peace garden provide a safe haven for the community, and various community groups need the physical space to gather. Our building and grounds act as a much-needed community center where all are welcome. We partner with the Transformative Law Center, Circles and Ciphers, Refugee One, and Mary Crane Day Care Center. Yoga classes, depression groups, AA and NA groups, and others also regularly use our building. We provide the following ministries: After-school program, summer program, New-to-You Thrift Shop, a learning garden, Community Feast, and inclusive spaces for worship and spiritual growth. During the pandemic, many of those programs continued in safe ways; and, in addition, we began a partnership with Care for Real to bring a pop-up food pantry to Rogers Park. Our welcoming Congregation includes Black, white, Latinx, and people of various ages, genders, sexualities, economic statuses and abilities.
What Has Been Accomplished:
In the first year, the Uplift Accessibility Project raised $180,000 of the $300,000 needed! Through the support of other churches, ministry partners, and individuals, we were able to secure much of the funding for Phase One. Church leaders voted to move forward, and we applied for permits in October of 2021. While the permits move through the City’s process, demolition of the ramp, tuckpointing, new windows, and other preliminary work was done. We hope to have approval from the City soon to move forward with the new construction envisioned in Phase One.
In 2022, a special donation pledge of $50,000 was received to honor the work and legacy of those who first helped make UCRP accessible by installing an elevator and building the exterior ramp. (Find out more about these early accessibility improvements on our website.) We are excited to invite others to join us and build upon this legacy, as we raise the last $70,000 we need to make the building fully accessible now!
What is Next:
We need twenty eight individuals or organizations to help raise the last $70,000 toward our Uplift Accessibility Campaign. Will you be one of them! We need three to give $10,000, five to give $5,000, ten to give $1,000, and ten to give $500.
Consider making a donation to the Uplift Accessibility Campaign in honor or in memory of those who have gone before us.
Upon completion of Phase Two of The Uplift Accessibility Project, there will be an installation honoring ALL those who have already given and who will give to this campaign. Donations given in honor or in memory of others will be recognized and published when the new entrance is dedicated. You are invited to join us in this work. Prayerfully consider how you can best support this project -- whether by a one-time donation or a twoyear commitment. We welcome contributions of any size and frequency.
We are not alone in this work. Generations of faithful folks have given of their time and energy to care for the Rogers Park neighborhood through this church. Be a part of the Legacy of Accessibility! United Church of Rogers Park eagerly awaits the time when we will be able to fellowship in our building with the able-bodied and those with disabilities gathering together as one happy throng!
Uplift Legacy
Video is an interview with three key players, Rev. Tom Gray, Sue Davies, and Tom Hickey that started the original accessibility project at UCRP in 1978. All this to bring the church within the Rogers Park community. “Here we are 50 years later, the church is even more involved with the community,” said Sue Davis.