An Enderby church has become fully accessible and that means it’s time to celebrate.
The entire community is invited to St. Andrew’s United Church Saturday at 2 p.m. for the unveiling of the new elevator.
“After three years of study, work, construction and support, we are very excited to say that the project is completed,” said Lorraine Powell, with the accessibility project committee.
The need for an elevator arose because some members of the congregation and the community were experiencing mobility issues and the stairs were proving challenging.
“One of our young people in a wheelchair was not able to come to the gatherings in the dining room and a number are needing to use walkers,” said Wendy Norlin, with the accessibility project committee.
“We identified 14 organizations that use our building and their members were not able to access the dinning room because of stairs. As well, the food bank had to interview clients in their cars because the building was not accessible.”
It was decided to install an elevator on the north side of the church at a cost of $69,000.
Grant applications were submitted and fundraising began.
“Our youth became excited, taking the lead and they held several fundraising events,” said Powell.
A federal accessibility grant was received, together with grants from the Community Foundation of North Okanagan and the Enderby Lions Club.
“An appeal to the community was made for help, with a great response,” said Norlin.
“Our own United Church Women, youth group, our church community, MacKenzie Camp, Women in Motion, and numerous individuals responded. A big thank you for all of the help.”