By Holly Meyer

The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Jerry Lamb could not maneuver his wheelchair into the rows of pews at his church. It wouldn’t fit. Nor could he sit in the aisles without awkwardly blocking the way.

So, he adapted. It’s a regular part of his new life with limited mobility that requires near-constant calculations of how to navigate a world no longer set up for him. Until recently, that included his longtime church in Camden, Tennessee – one of the many U.S. houses of worship with accessibility limitations.

Instead, on Sundays, he worshipped in the narthex at the back of Camden First United Methodist Church, separated from the rest of the congregation, with his family at his side in folding chairs. It didn’t really bother Lamb, 66, who “was already over it.” He’s struggled to walk since 2019 due to a worsening spine condition.

But it bothered the Rev. Adam Kelchner, the new pastor: “I was preaching one Sunday and was rather distraught that one of our families literally could not be in the same worship space just because we didn’t have a seating arrangement that made sense.”

So Kelchner made one that did. He secured trustees’ approval and hired a company to cut two pews, making space for Lamb – and anyone else using a wheelchair or walker – to worship alongside the rest of the congregation.

“It blew us out of the water,” Lamb said.

Except as employers, religious entities are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act – the 32-year-old landmark civil rights law that includes access requirements for public spaces. Nonetheless, most have made their buildings accessible in some fashion.

But there is much room for improvement, said Scott Thumma, a sociology of religion professor and director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

Thumma also co-leads Faith Communities Today, a research project that surveyed more than 15,000 U.S. religious congregations for its 2020 report and found that 76 percent have wheelchair access. Thirty percent offer large-print worship materials and about the same portion have hearing assistive devices.

“That’s not terrible,” Thumma said. “But then when you start to ask the questions of how are they accommodating all the other challenges and disabilities? … Then it just almost drops off. They don’t make the full accommodations to allow all of their people to actually worship to their fullest in the service.”

The pandemic and the sweeping rise of online worship that followed was a catalyst for a more expansive understanding of what it really means to be an accessible church, said the Rev. Kelly Colwell, who leads digital and hybrid ministry at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, United Church of Christ, in California.

She had an eye-opening virtual coffee chat early in the pandemic. A congregant with multiple sclerosis explained how her online event-packed calendar finally allowed her to participate in ways her physical condition wouldn’t otherwise permit. It made Colwell realize the church had been excluding people with accessibility challenges all along.

Today, Colwell continues to assess whether the church is physically accessible to all congregants on an equal basis. Now she also considers how to make the online and hybrid experience meaningful.

“We’re not providing a sort of separate and unequal service for people who can’t come in person,” Colwell said.

Maria Town, the American Association of People with Disabilities’ president and CEO, has seen progress. She pointed to congregations adding inclusion events and playgrounds for all as well as an activist-created, easy-to-read Quran translation for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“It’s slow, but I do think more and more entities are beginning to realize that this is a need, and I also hope that more and more people with disabilities are actually saying, ‘We deserve to be here,’” Town said.

Omer Zaman, a Muslim wheelchair user near Chicago, is one of the disabled faithful pushing for acceptance and accessibility. He focuses on inclusion at mosques as a volunteer and board member with MUHSEN, a nonprofit advocating for accommodations and understanding of disabilities in the Muslim community.

“Individuals with special needs can be on a board; they can contribute; they can give you a perspective,” said Zaman, 37, who has muscular dystrophy. “We are not defined by our special needs. It’s just a part of who we are … but there’s more to us than that.”

MUHSEN recognizes mosques making progress through its tiered masjid certification. To earn it, they must meet requirements like having disability awareness events, support groups, specialized child care, braille Qurans and ramps.

“It’s not just the ramp,” said Lamb, who has confronted accessibility problems in many types of venues.

Lamb wants to invite policymakers to what he thinks would be an eye-opening outing in wheelchairs. They would experience firsthand just how hard it is to do basic activities, like using public bathrooms and finding restaurants with enough space between tables for a wheelchair, he said.

His family also sacrificed what they thought was their forever home to move into a fully accessible house. They skipped church for a while as they juggled the pandemic, Lamb’s health problems, and new duties as foster parents.

“It wasn’t even the fact that church didn’t have a place for him in the chair,” said Laura Lamb – Jerry’s wife. “It was difficult for us. We were just learning this new kind of lifestyle.”

Dignity is needed in accessibility as well, said Amy Asin, the Union for Reform Judaism’s vice president of congregational engagement and leadership experiences.

Anybody who’s “had to go through the kitchen to get to the sanctuary has experienced what congregations need to do,” Asin said. “Some of it is about getting around … some of it is about making sure that path has dignity.”

Accessibility shouldn’t be treated as only a disability community issue either, she said.

“If we’ve had the blessing of living long enough, we will all be disabled,” she said. “This is not about them. This is about all of us.”

Accessibility updates can be pricey, but so can a congregation’s other needs, Asin said. These projects also can go through the annual budget process, knowing that some years, replacing a leaky roof or other critical need will take precedence.

Sometimes financial help is available. Donors may be interested in funding a particular accessibility project, Asin said.

ENCORE Ministry provides grants for congregations making accommodations for older members in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church, executive director Kent McNish said. Of the conference’s roughly 1,000 congregations, more than 60 percent of congregants are 60 or older, he said: “Most churches see that as a given and they don’t do anything for their senior adults.”

ENCORE is trying to change that with training and resources. As examples, they have funded sound systems that make worship easier to hear and screens that are more readable than hymnals.

At Camden First, the sanctuary layout now sends an important message.

“This is a place where we have thoughtfully made decisions to invite folks in” that need mobility assistance, Kelchner said.

The Lambs rejoined the congregation in the sanctuary this past fall. It just so happened that a newly-halved pew was near what once was their usual Sunday seat before everything changed.

“It felt like coming home,” Jerry Lamb said.

The post Greater accessibility sought in worship spaces appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Developer Kevin Cavenaugh’s latest brainstorm – a proposal for a 14-unit residential project in the Nob Hill neighborhood – got a hearty go-ahead from Portland‘s Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday.

DAO Architecture designed the Unicorn Bed Apartments, two three-story buildings, for Cavenaugh’s Guerrilla Development. The complex will occupy a 5,000-square-foot lot at 2171 N.W. Glisan St., and drawings suggest it will strongly resemble the type of wood-clad walk-up commonly found a century ago.

“I like the simplicity of the design and I like the more modern interpretation of a historic design, including the iron railings,” Commissioner Matthew Roman said just prior to the unanimous vote to approve the proposal. “It’s putting a modern building together that still has the warmth and human scale; it just feels like it’s not just a machine-made monster unpacked from someplace else.”

An existing triplex is set back from the street on the lot, with a small surface parking lot in front. The building will be demolished to make way for the new development, which will feature 13 two-bedroom units approximately 600 square feet each. The 14th unit is intended to provide residents with a day care space, but it could be converted into another residence.

At least one of the ground-floor apartments will be fully accessible for persons with disabilities as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Exterior materials will include a concrete foundation, wood lap siding, aluminum-clad windows, standing-seam metal roofing, and ornate, laser-cut metal railings.

Commissioners approved requested modifications to building height, side setbacks, landscaped areas and pedestrian path width.

The proposal calls for bicycle storage in the building’s basement, but no motor vehicle parking.

The building is geared to serve single mothers with young children, and the on-site day care space is intended to attract such tenants. The plan is for rents to be “affordable.”

“Existing zoning would allow a much larger structure here, but our client and landowner have prioritized a different direction to fit a special population of tenants,” DAO Architecture principal David Horsley said. “We believe it’s this program and the architectural features of the project that have garnered such positive feedback from the neighborhood association.”

Guerrilla Development has gained much attention for its colorful, bold projects such as the Fair-Haired Dumbbell and Tree Farm. But the Unicorn Bed Apartments, at a glance, does not follow suit. The neutral color palette, siding and metal railings all hark back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when multifamily buildings came in many more shapes and sizes than typically are found in Portland now. The surrounding neighborhood features a mix of historic single-family and multifamily structures.

“We wanted to create a modest, welcoming, dignified project for families that blends into the neighborhood context,” DAO Architecture principal Joanne Le said.

The commission did not spend a long time deliberating. Instead, the jovial discussion ended up in laughter.

“It fits in so well,” Commissioner Derek Spears said. “I can see that the building in that spot fits in perfectly. One thing, and humor me here, but I don’t see any unicorns on the side though.”

Roman quickly answered.

“Some,” he said with a chuckle, “argue affordable housing in a historic district is a unicorn.”

But maybe not.

The post ‘Unicorn’ due to arrive in historic district appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

has been issued for a firm to provide design-build services for a at the Salem Public Library‘s main building in downtown.

The three-story Brutalist-style building, constructed in 1972, will receive a seismic retrofit as well as upgrades to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Also, new mechanical systems and ductwork will be installed, and additional seismic work will improve the auditorium and adjacent parking garage.

According to the city, a 2014 engineering study by Portland firm BergerABAM found the library and parking structure do not meet standards for life safety, and that users, staff and volunteers would be at risk in the event of a major earthquake. This prompted the city to pursue passage of a bond measure to pay for the work. Voters in 2017 approved an $18.6 million general obligation bond.

City officials hope to select a designer and contractor by the end of the year. Construction is set to start in early 2020 and wrap up by May 2021.

Questions about RFP specifications may be emailed to John Nibler of owner’s representative DAY CPM at john.nibler@otak.com.

Questions regarding the RFP process may be directed to Shawna Self, contracts and procurement manager for the city of Salem, at 503-588-6445 or sself@cityofsalem.net.

Bid proposals must be filed with the city before 2 p.m. on Nov. 7.

The post Salem Public Library project up for bidding appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Portland’s Forest Park has many entry points, but no main entrance. Portland Parks & Recreation wants to change that and create a distinctive entrance with amenities – if it can ultimately cover the $15 million price tag.

Parks & Recreation officials recently issued a request for proposals for the entryway, according to planning and design manager Lauren McGuire.

“This will be an architecturally-led project with a really strong landscape architecture firm partner, and there’s also a cost consultant element to it,” she said.

The parks department is working on three campaigns in the park, including habitat restoration and invasive species removal in addition to repair of signage, trails, bridges and culverts.

But the $15 million would go only toward a new entrance, which would include parking for 20 motor vehicles and bikes, restrooms, a walkway that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, maintenance facilities and eventually an overlook and possibly even an amphitheater.

The build-out would be a long-term effort, under the direction of project manager Britta Herwig. Public outreach will begin after a design team is picked, McGuire said. The deadline to respond to the RFP is April 1. Interested parties can contact Herwig at 503-823-5476 or britta.herwig@portlandoregon.gov.

The new entry will be located south of U.S. Route 30 where it converges with St. Helens Road and Kittredge Street, McGuire said.

“We are ultimately looking for a designer to design an iconic architectural gateway to improve access and circulation, and provide a major entry into the park which, right now, we don’t have,” she said.

The post ‘Iconic’ entrance sought for Portland’s Forest Park appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

­­­­

The Oregon Department of Transportation is attempting to address demands that it do more to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

An advocacy group for disabled people has sued ODOT, claiming eight plaintiffs around Oregon – including three in the Portland area – are being denied access to the state transportation system. The lawsuit filed by Disability Rights Oregon in U.S. District Court alleges a “systemic pattern and practice of discrimination against people with physical disabilities, particularly those with mobility impairments.”

ODOT responded by saying it receives guidance regarding ADA compliance from the Federal Highway Administration. Department officials this week issued a statement entitled “ODOT Proactive on Access,” announcing that it will spend $18 million in its next four-year capital improvement plan to construct curb ramps and other ADA-related improvements.

“We are proud of our record on the ADA and will vigorously defend it in court,” the statement reads.

The suit describes challenges facing Northeast Portland resident and plaintiff William Phillips. Phillips lives in a public housing complex on North Lombard Street, also known as U.S. Route 30 Bypass, which ODOT built and maintains. Phillips has very poor eyesight, according to the suit, and must use a wheelchair due to nerve damage.

The complaint prepared by Portland attorney Stephen Brischetto asserts Phillips has difficulty accessing the sidewalks near his home because very few curb ramps have been installed, despite numerous repaving projects over the years. Traffic signals along Lombard are further said to be out of ADA compliance because buttons are out of Phillips’ reach range.

The lawsuit also mentions “many” noncompliant curb ramps along heavily-used Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Oregon Route 99 East).

East Portland resident Laurie Sitton, another plaintiff, claims Powell Boulevard does not have compliant curb ramps, traffic signal buttons or level platform landings.

Other plaintiffs hail from Bend, Clatskanie, Hillsboro, Lincoln City and Roseburg.

In a letter to DRO’s director dated Feb. 19, ODOT Director Matt Garrett said money that would be spent litigating this case would be better used elsewhere.

“I deeply regret that despite ODOT’s willingness to work with DRO and tackle this challenge together, you have chosen to cut that conversation prematurely short and pursue litigation,” Garrett wrote.

The post Under pressure, ODOT pledges to add curb ramps appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland Development Commission is interested in the possibility of a new home.

The city’s urban renewal and economic development agency last week issued a request for information, and the deadline to respond is July 27. The RFI can be accessed online at .

PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said the agency’s lease is up in 2020, but it’s not too soon to start looking because there are options for exiting the lease early. Also, the PDC has more space than it needs.

“The lease is up in 2020 and that sounds like a long way out, but the opportunity to move is not very far from now,” he said. “No one is saying we must move, but I think that as we are on the verge of having a lease up, it just makes sense.”

When the PDC moved into its current, 42,000-square-foot building in 2010, the agency had 240 employees, Uhlman said, but now it has only 95. Part of the reason is that the PDC’s housing function – employees included – was absorbed by the Portland Housing Bureau. Plus, layoffs in the past few years made an impact.

“The layoffs were primarily due to declining TIF (tax increment financing), but now we have reached equilibrium and I’m pretty confident we will stay at that level,” Uhlman said.

The PDC is not promising to move after receiving responses to the RFI, but it includes several specifics that it is looking for should it decide to. Ideally, the RFI states, the new location would be one that “has experienced sustained disinvestment” so that the PDC’s arrival could serve as a catalyst for additional investment.

The new space also would need to be close to mass transit, be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rated, be accessible in accordance with the American with Disabilities Act, and possess audio-visual technology, a fitness facility or showers, and lockers and bike storage for 40 people. The RFI does not specify how much square footage would be required, but calls for 90 workstations, 12 private offices, 14 meeting rooms, one “quiet/sick/mothers room,” a lunchroom and accommodations for information technology.

The PDC rents out extra space at its current location, but a move into a building with lower rent could save taxpayers money, Uhlman said.

“Financially we’re fine, but it’s about being wise with public money,” he said. “If we can get in a space that meets our needs at a lower cost, we would be very interested in pursuing it.”

The post Portland Development Commission expresses interest in relocating appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The owner of a historic, 90-plus-year-old Salem building can proceed with plans to demolish it.

The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals on Dec. 17 issued a final order and opinion upholding the Salem City Council‘s decision to allow executives at Salem Health, the parent company of Salem Hospital, to demolish Howard Hall – formerly a boys dormitory when the Oregon School for the Blind operated at 700 Church St. S.E.

Salem Health in 2010 purchased the site for $6 million with plans to raze the building and redevelop the land. Those plans called for creation of a garden commemorating Howard Hall, an adaptive playground (open to the public) for children with physical disabilities and a “therapy loop” featuring various materials and incorporating multiple terrain features for hospital patients learning to walk again.

The eight-acre former school site in the 1980s was designated as a historic area by the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission; however, it is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1990, Howard Hall specifically was given a protected historic designation by the commission, according to hospital spokeswoman Sherryll Hoar.

In April 2014, Salem Health applied to the city for a historic demolition review. The commission denied the application, but the Salem City Council initiated a review of the decision. On Aug. 11, 2014, the council reversed the commission’s denial, approving the application for demolition. Nine citizens then took the issue before LUBA, which upheld the council’s decision.

“The city has very specific rules about when a historic building can be demolished,” Hoar said. “We had to prove that what will replace the demolished building will be of more value to the community than what was there.”

The Salem City Council concluded that the site’s cultural significance and value would be better served via a commemorative garden and adaptive play area than via preservation of the existing structure. LUBA agreed.

Hoar said the commemorative garden will include substantial recognition of the former school. Also, the therapy loop will provide patients with a therapeutic environment unlike any other on the hospital campus, and the playground will address a community need.

“The playground really became an obvious solution for us about two years ago when Easter Seals closed down their playground,” she said. “Our physical therapists have been trying to find a solution to the loss of those structures and resources since they closed.”

Victor Dodier, co-chairman of the South Central Association of Neighbors (SCAN), called LUBA’s decision “a disappointment,” but said he supports playground construction.

“There is a crying need in this community for an accessible playground, there’s no question,” he said. “But the process of how they reached the decision to demolish Howard Hall basically lays out a road map for any landlord who has a historically designated piece of property and wants to demolish it.”

Of larger concern to Dodier is a separate appeal filed by SCAN to LUBA of the Salem City Council’s decision to approve a major Salem Hospital expansion. SCAN contends that the plans violate city code by allowing construction of too many surface parking spaces and removal of too many trees.

“The larger issue of the trees and the parking lot size are concerning to us,” Dodier said. “It’s a pattern of development that goes against what we have understood are the hospital’s plans to preserve the trees.

Hoar explained that in order to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, the hospital must grade the site to a level that makes preservation of some of the trees impossible.

“That’s what they’ve said, but I find it difficult to believe,” Dodier said. “ADA does have fairly profound requirements, and they do ask a lot of things you wouldn’t expect, but to make the whole world flat seems excessive.”

Hoar said she expects LUBA to issue a final order on the appeal regarding the parking and trees sometime this week. If LUBA rules in favor of Salem Health, she said construction could begin in the spring.

The post Demolition OK for historic building appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Ebola virus outbreak has captured the attention of the American public like few other stories have in recent memory. You can’t help but hear about the deadly illness and its apparent spread around the world on a daily basis. The stories are gripping and scary – a killer disease with no cure, no borders and nothing to stop it. Some employers are now wondering what they need to do in order to protect workers from the onslaught of this terrifying rampage.

The first thing all employers should do is take a deep breath and stop the panic. In the United States, Ebola is nowhere close to being a pandemic or even a national health crisis. Besides the fact that it is not easily spread, this virus is very controllable given the health care infrastructure and the resources our nation has at its disposal. Unless an employer sends workers on international travel, or is in the airline or health care industries, it likely will never have to deal with an Ebola situation.

That being said, employers across all fields should at least educate themselves about Ebola in the unlikely event they are caught up in the issue. The two most common questions I have been hearing from companies are: How do we keep our employees safe, and what do we do if we think one of our employees may have been exposed? Even if a company never sends its workers overseas, these same questions arise if a worker is about to take a personal trip to Africa, or if someone else who recently visited Africa will be on site in the near future.

The easiest way to explain to employers the best approach to these concerns is to recognize the balance between two federal workplace statutes: the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. On the one hand, OSHA is intended to protect workers, and all employers have a duty under the act to ensure that their employees are reasonably protected from all sorts of workplace hazards – including communicable diseases like Ebola. On the other hand, the ADA serves as a shield preventing employers from prying into the personal lives of workers, prohibiting unnecessary medical inquiries and barring workplace decisions motivated by irrational health concerns. Yes, you need to be cautious, but not at the expense of worker rights and privacy. So where do you draw the line?

An employer’s first priority is to ensure worker safety, and the easiest way to do this right now is to limit unnecessary international business travel. If a worker has done business or been on a personal trip in an area with high exposure rates, or if the company’s business is in one of the fields noted above, stay up to speed on the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) communications.

The next priority is to ensure compliance with the ADA. The best way to stay on the right side of the law here is to make sure that any steps taken here with respect to employee medical information are based on concrete, objective data, and not spurned by fear, generalizations and stereotypes.

For example, if an employee has just returned from an African safari with his family, a company might walk itself into an ADA claim if it were to bar him from work for a 21-day quarantine period. Instead, if you know an employee has visited Africa, start by simply asking him where he has visited to determine the level of risk. You can follow up by asking the employee whether he has exhibited any virus symptoms and to keep you apprised if any symptoms appear.

Also, employers are permitted under the ADA to take an employee’s temperature at regular intervals, but only if this action is job-related and consistent with business necessity. In a case where a worker has been to Africa, or been exposed to someone with Ebola, or in a health care situation with possible disease-carriers, this standard is easily met.

Just don’t start giving blanket temperature exams to all employees without any real justification, because that’s when you’ll run afoul of the ADA. Only in very rare cases should a worker be barred from coming to work for the 21-day incubation period. And in such cases employers will most likely already be in touch with public health officials, given the heightened state of concern that will be present by that point.

As for handling the fear and concern that other employees might be feeling, the best thing to do is to reassure them that the company takes their health and safety very seriously and that active steps are being taken to ensure that they are not exposed to Ebola at work. Then share those steps with them; that should help comfort them and allay their fears.

If an employee refuses to come to work because of some legitimate or well-grounded fear of Ebola exposure, recognize that he or she might be protected under OSHA retaliation law or even the National Labor Relations Act and act accordingly; it is only when an employee is acting in bad faith (using Ebola as an excuse to take a few days off) that you should enforce attendance policies and others.

Like any other crisis, the Ebola scare will pass in time. But until then it’s up to you to ensure panic does not set in at your workplace and that you don’t walk yourself into a legal claim while trying to do the right thing.

Rich Meneghello is a partner in the Portland office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, which is dedicated to representing the interests of management. Contact him at or 503-205-8044, or follow him on Twitter – @pdxLaborLawyer.

The post OP-ED: Ease those Ebola fears, employers appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Four metro-area contractors and numerous subcontractors later this month will donate labor and materials for Habitat for Humanity‘s Home Builders Blitz in Southeast Portland.

The construction process – from framework to insulation to cabinets and countertops – for four homes will be accelerated from a couple of months to about a couple of weeks, according to Jeff Fish, owner of participating contractor Fish Construction NW. Neil Kelly, Noyes Development Co. and Schumacher Custom Homes also will construct homes as part of the event from May 28 to June 13.

Parr Lumber Co. is donating materials, according to Habitat for Humanity.

“The whole process should take about two weeks,” Fish said. “We’ll hand them the keys June 13.”

Two years ago, Fish worked during Home Builders Blitz on a home for a family of African refugees who had spent seven years in camps. They contributed up to 500 hours of “sweat equity” by sweeping around the jobsite and keeping it clean, he said. Habitat for Humanity families make monthly payments on the 0 percent mortgage, which includes taxes, insurance and principal.

“It’s a good project helping people trying to help themselves,” he said. “It’s not a giveaway. They end up buying the home.”

Each home, on Southeast 171st Avenue near Grant Street, will be built to Americans with Disabilities Act standards, said Sasha Davis, director of communications for Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East. One of the homes will be built to accommodate a disabled man who uses a wheelchair, she said.

Three of the homes will go to Burmese refugees and one will go to a low-income American family, Davis said.

“These are really busy builders taking out more than two weeks of their time, which is huge,” she said. “They are reaching out to all their contacts to get the homes built as well.”

More information is available at .

The post Home Builders Blitz coming to Southeast Portland appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post City of Portland is seeking an ADA Access Program Coordinator Limited Term. appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.