CBS honors Jewish Disabilities Awareness month with “Accessibility Now!” fundraiser

In honor of Jewish Disabilities Awareness month, Congregation Beth Sholom (CBS), a modern Orthodox synagogue in Providence, is launching a fundraising effort to make the synagogue’s lower level entrance wheelchair accessible.  Throughout February and March, CBS will be collecting donations via their online campaign named Accessibility Now!

The goal of Accessibility Now! is to raise $30,000 – the amount that builders estimate is needed to alter the building so that all members of the community can participate in the communal events that take place on the lower level, which is currently only reachable by stairs. 

Rabbi Barry Dolinger speaks on behalf of the congregation, “At CBS, we strive to build a stronger community based on the notion that we are all created in the image of God.  Making our building handicapped accessible to render our community more inclusive is an absolute moral imperative and an important statement for our community.”

Marina Goodman, a CBS member and mother of a child who uses a wheelchair, says, “With an accessible lower level, we will be able to fully participate as a family.”

To learn more about this fundraising project and to see which perks you can earn from your donation, visit the online campaign at indiegogo.com/projects/accessibility-now. You can also make donations via PayPal through CBS’s website at BethSholom-RI.org or you can send a check with “Accessibility Now!” written in the subject line to Congregation Beth Sholom, 275 Camp St., Providence, RI 02906.