Calvary Center for Culture and Community

The John “Jerry” Greene Memorial Fund
for ADA Accessibility

Help make Calvary a true community space, accessible to all.

As a tribute to her late friend and beloved partner, Jane Guerin of the West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship has established a memorial fund to help support accessibility to the Calvary building for those with disabilities.

John Greene, known to many as “Jerry”, was a lifelong traveler and lover of adventure. He is survived by two sons, John and Andrew, and five siblings. John was born at the Temple University Hospital on February 25, 1946. During high school he ran track for Germantown High and came in 5th in an all-city competition.

He served nearly four years in the U.S. Air Force and studied Industrial Design at Philadelphia College of Arts (now called University of the Arts). John traveled extensively: in Asia and Eastern Europe; in the U.S. and Canada where he taught skiing for several years; and in Alaska where he fished for salmon. John especially loved Maine and its fishing. Age didn’t slow John down; he was nearly 50 when he trekked 350 miles in the Himalayas.

John and Jane met in 1994 at a fundraising event in Germantown. Together they hosted a series of international potluck storytelling parties in 1998, the same year John joined Jane in attending West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship. John was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1999, and passed away on March 13, 2008. Jane took care of him throughout the course of his illness. John said that the hardest thing about having Parkinson’s was losing his mobility.

Making Calvary accessible to all has been a strong desire for each of the groups that uses the building. Because of the unusual and very tight design of the building, however, several attempts to come up with a low-cost solution to providing access have had their own challenges.

After an extensive and thorough analysis of Calvary by a series of professionals who specialize in designing space compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a plan has been devised. The most economical solution will install a ramp up to the Baltimore Avenue double door entrance, from which the visitor would board an elevator. This elevator will be located next to the current entrance staircase and will run from the entrance vestibule either up to the main floor, or down to the basement area. This plan includes $100,000 for the elevator and its installation, and $25,000 for the ramp and necessary movement of some utilities, for a total of $125,000. Though this is the least expensive option, it is still no small sum.

What an Accessible Calvary Means

Making Calvary accessible is not just about ADA compliance – it is about making this important community hub accessible to everyone who wants to use it. The John Greene Memorial Fund is launching an important chapter in the building’s restoration and redevelopment that began with the roof replacement, the gables reconstructions, making the interiors reusable, and the masonry overhaul. The current restoration underway in the sanctuary will lead to expanded programming at Calvary, but would have to be limited to those who could navigate the steps to enter the building.

The Challenge

Calvary Center has set aside $5,000 to seed the John Green Memorial Fund. It’s a start, but much more is needed to meet the goal of $125,000! You can help by contributing to this important fund by making a donation through PayPal on the Calvary Center website, or by check made payable to “Calvary Center for Culture and Community” with “John Greene Memorial Fund” in the memo line.

We are challenging all the building user organizations to contribute to this fund and hope to see 100% participation. Toward that end, for every building user group that contributes at least $100, Calvary Center will match it with $100 to the Fund. For any group that contributes $5,000, CCCC will add an extra $1,000 for EACH $5,000 contributed!

These contributions to the fund will be publicly posted! Without contributions from Calvary supporters like you, accessibility will continue to be a dream rather than reality! Thank you for your continuing support of the Calvary Center and this effort to make FULL accessibility a reality. Together we really can make it happen!

Support the fund by:

using the PayPal link above, here on the Calvary Center website;
or by check made payable to “Calvary Center for Culture and Community” with “John Greene Memorial Fund” in the memo line.

John "Jerry" Greene and Jane Guerin
"My hope is that very soon Calvary can be truly welcoming, open and inclusive, to everyone. A true community offers nothing less."

A Message of Hope in
Remembering John Greene
By Jane Guerin

Since 1995, I’ve been attending West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship (WPMF), a congregation that has shared space at Calvary for almost ten years. In 1998 I brought my partner, John Greene, who also started attending regularly. WPMF became like a second family for John as it is for me.

In 1999, John was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and in time it became more and more difficult for John to negotiate entering the Calvary building, with its many stairs, both up into the worship space and then down to fellowship and of course, the bathrooms. Even as his disease progressed, John kept coming to services at WPMF because it meant so much to him to be with his church family and receive support.

I do not want to understate just how difficult this became. Because he couldn’t use a wheelchair to get into the building, even parking was an issue. We had to be as close as possible to the church doors and find a spot where the sidewalk was unobstructed.

Even so, John had to be supported while negotiating the expanse of sidewalk to the steps; then the steps and doors themselves were extremely difficult. I often called a couple of people early on Sunday mornings to ask if they could help us get in, but if we were running late, they would need to leave the service in order to come to the door. I felt so uncomfortable feeling like an interruption and a spectacle.

John fell several times in performing the feat of just entering the building. It got to the point that even the nursing home felt strongly that it was unsafe to bring John to church. Still, he came, until he simply no longer could do it. And so, the last year before his passing, John was unable to attend the church he loved so much, and that was the year that he needed it the most.

Shortly after John’s passing, I decided to initiate this fund so that others would not need to go through this same ordeal. I know that John was not the only one struggling. I’m sure that there are people who are not participating in their faith groups, their community organizations, and in the arts because of the limitations of this building.

My hope is that very soon Calvary can be truly welcoming, open and inclusive, to everyone. A true community offers nothing less.