PHILADELPHIA >> For the all the walking and standing crowds had to endure to catch a view of Pope Francis on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia for the papal Mass on Sunday, organizers had to scramble to accommodate those with disabilities.
Those who made their way to one of 10 platforms designed to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act were pleased with the outcome.
Mitchell Smedley, 12, is legally blind, and was led to an elevated platform with special aids for the disabled.
“A volunteer went and found the answer for where we should go, and then he guided us up personally,” Smedley said.
The volunteer patiently helped Smedley, from Ivyland, Bucks County, who was accompanied by his father, Mike, and his sister, Karissa, through the crowds and over grassy hills to the most prominent ADA platform, one with a tent and special features for various disabilities.
“Some of those with us are blind, some are hearing impaired, we have the wheelchair-bound and some people who have recently had serious surgery,” said Trish Maunder, who was helped organize the guests at the tent. Maunder is co-founder of Philly Touch Tours, which provides tours of the city for the vision and hearing impaired.
The tent included audio sets for the visually impaired, which help describe what is happening. Smedley tested out the audio set before the mass.
“A dream come true is if the descriptions aren’t cutting out the Pope’s words,” Smedley said.
The tent was set up in part by Accessible Festivals, a company based in California that works on music festivals and other large events to bring the experience to life for those with disabilities. The executive director, Oren Shani, was on-site overseeing the tent. He said his organization, a nonprofit, wasn’t given the window of time to prepare for the Papal Mass that it usually has for large events.
“Typically the preparation for an event is about three months, for us to get on the site and set up, but we were just brought on two weeks ago,” Shani said. “So we weren’t able, in terms of ADA patrons, to get the information out so that they would know where it was and where to go.”
The Campbell family, for example, struggled with the accommodations. Paula Campbell and her daughter Giana, of Newtown Square, had ticketed seats in the front near the altar. Giana has a rare disorder called neurofibromatosis, and is undergoing chemotherapy and confined to a wheelchair.
Paula Campbell was desperately trying to find her way into the seated area for several hours before the Mass and kept hitting dead ends, she said.
“We have had zero accommodations,” Campbell sighed.
The experience had her flustered and frustrated. Making her way through a crowd of hundreds of thousands with a wheelchair almost defeated them, she said, but it also made her thankful for the kindness that was bestowed upon her family by volunteers and security personnel.
“Every uniformed person, officer, anything, has been the best part of the whole thing,” she said. “This is a beautiful, safe, well-planned place to be. But if you’re in a wheelchair, it’s hell.”
Volunteers eventually found out how to direct the Cambells to their seats, fortunately.
For those without seated tickets, the ADA platforms were the next best thing, with space for wheelchairs and folding seats. Getting to the parkway itself was more difficult, Mitchell’s father, Mike Smedley, said.
“We struggled last night, and today when we came down Spring Garden Street,” he said. “Navigating through a crowd like that with a child who is visually impaired takes time.”
For Mitchell, it was worth it though. The family also made it to Festival of Families Saturday. Mitchell, who has limited peripheral vision, said he could tell when the Pope passed by.
“When we were near the Pope, I was actually able to see the lights, and I could hear the cheers, you could feel the excitement,” he said. “Basically, that is the Pope for me.”
Mitchell’s mother and older brother, who is also visually impaired, were able to get seated tickets in the area in front of the altar. Mitchell said he hoped his brother, Michael, would receive some sort of blessing from the Pontiff.
Meanwhile, he was grateful of the volunteers and organizers that helped his family get their spot in the ADA tent.
“The fact that they have this is fantastic. It goes along with what he’s talking about, including everyone,” Mitchell Smedley said. “It really goes along with his message.”
