Sorry... but a word about our facility's current Accessibility...
Christ Episcopal Church of River Forest is a small - but mighty- aging Parish. Like many Parishes these days, we find our ability to attract and maintain Parishioners sometimes depends on their very ability to join us for both a service to hear & experience the Word of God - as well as enjoy our fun, well-known fellowship events. To that end, our Parish made the conscience decision in late 2017 to fund-raise, save, research and commit to making our beautiful, but aged, multi-level facility completely accessible and contracted to install a 'lift', or as some might call, an elevator. In our case, once encountering our street-level entrance from our smooth, accessible driveway, you must choose to rise up a half-level to our Church Sanctuary where services are held; or descend down a half-level to our Parish Social Hall, where Fellowship events, dinners, coffee-hours and the other 'fun' stuff happens. This is where the lift, manufactured by a company called Savaria, based in Brampton Ontario, Canada, was key to making sure we were inclusive to all that needed some assistance to ambulate into our facility.
Unfortunately, although getting very little use for a small Parish such as ours, we have had more than what we believe to be our fair share of mechanical breakdowns and issues with the left/equipment. The expense associated with these breakdowns have now run into the thou$and$ - quite a budget hit to a small Parish such as ours.
To make matters worse... we're currently experience yet ANOTHER of these mechanical breakdowns. While parts are on order, in this particular situation - Thanks be to God, we are able to utilize the lift to get folks from level-to-level, however - the 'call button' outside that accessible driveway entrance location is NOT IN SERVICE. If you are here for a service or event and need the assistance of the lift to enter the building, PLEASE CALL to the inside of the Church (708-366-7730), from your cell phone, and someone will assist you with sending the lift to the driveway.
Thanks for your patience and understanding while we attempt to navigate yet another large repair expense and inconvenience.
If you or anyone you know is familiar with lift equipment made by Savaria and has any ability to potentially assist us with some contact or resolution from this manufacturer, please leave a message at the Church, where our Vestry and/or Facility Manager will reach out to you. Thanks again.