We're Not Done Yet: Ask Your Place of Worship How They're Caring for Our Most Vulnerable Kin in This Pandemic
The pandemic is not over. The waves of surges/new variants followed by relaxed mask mandates, continued boosters because pharmaceutical companies profit off this back and forth, and general misinformation + lack of care from the CDC has created worsening mental & physical conditions for our disabled community members. The CDC is not a trusted source of morality; they largely ignored AIDS since it was mostly gays men dying. They're doing the same thing with COVID but ignoring meaningful research and care since it's mostly the disabled and elderly community dying. We have to continue to advocate for our right to not only exist, but to be cared for and given respect and humanity. This should NOT be just for disabled people to do, abled allies should be loudly calling for protective measures in both their workplaces and places of worship.
Given my work is mostly focused around Jewish spaces, this will be a template for a letter (or continued correspondence) to the staff of your place of worship. You can use it purely as a template to alter to your specific questions and complaints, and you can use it regardless of faith - anyone can use it.
What is (name of congregation) doing to care for our most vulnerable during the continued pandemic? Even if cases are down, that does not mean that disabled and immunocompromised folks are in the clear. In fact, the decrease in cases does nothing for the disabled community if we still lack protective measures to keep everyone safe from potential infection. Given this is a place of spirituality, care, and justice, I'd like to know the following:
Will all events and holidays have a hybrid component complete with closed captioning? If no, why not? What is stopping this congregation from having a hybrid component for services and holidays? If it's a lack of money, why aren't you fundraising? There's no excuse for not having a hybrid option two years into a pandemic. There's no excuse for ostracizing vulnerable members of our community and cutting them off from accessing their religion.
When there are in-person services, since not everyone has reliable access to a computer, will you be providing high quality masks, sanitizer, and requiring continued masking? If no, why not? Services are typically ____ minutes/hours long. Are you saying your personal comfort of not wearing a mask for ____ minutes/hours is more important than allowing all of our community to partake in our faith? If you say no, you're telling the disabled community their participation in our faith and community is not welcome. Is that what you want? Our faith teaches us to be for everybody and to be there for the most marginalized, why are we not abiding by one of the most tenet beliefs of our faith?
Is our clergy & staff checking in weekly on the mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing of disabled congregation members? Whether through phone calls, zoom meetings, written letters, emails, or masked/distanced/outdoor home visits? If no, why not? It is a core value of our faith to communally take care of those who are ill and disabled. Given the stress and severe isolation disabled community members have faced, how are you meeting the increased need for care and socialization? If you believe it is not our duty to provide this type of care, why? Our congregation is supposed to be there for all life-cycle events, including moments of deep grief, which this pandemic has created.
When was the last time our congregation partook in a disability audit to address the continued need to expand our inclusion and accessibility? Do we have interpreters and closed captioning for deaf congregants? Do we have braille for blind congregants? Is there comfortable seating options for those with injuries, mobility aids, and chronic pain? Are we wheelchair accessible in all aspects of the building? Do we provide high quality masks? Do our social media posts have alt text enabled for those who are visually impaired?
What sort of outreach has our congregation done to care for our most vulnerable communities? Have we donated masks and sanitizer to mutual aid organizations doing mask distribution? Have we sent masks to all our congregants? Have we given food, clothing, or provided shelter to the houseless or food insecure community members? How often do we do these acts of care?
Has this congregation considered doing multiple services along with hybrid services where the first service is fully masked and for disabled and immunocompromised folks? Why aren't we doing this currently?
Our faith is communal, we cannot exist without each other or without caring for one another. How is it possible that we have let down so many disabled people within our community? How can we call ourselves a place of faith if we don't create an environment accessible to everyone? Let us do the right thing for our community and prioritize the needs of our most vulnerable.
