St. Olaf Parish recognized for accessibility modifications

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Fr. Andrzej Skrzypiec, pastor of Saint Olaf Parish in Bountiful, receives the Catholics Can Award from Carol Ruddell, a member of the diocesan Commission for People with Disabilities, following Mass at the parish on Oct. 20. The parish received the award for its efforts to make its campus “more welcoming and inclusive of all people,” according to the nomination form. At back is Deacon Scott Dodge.

BOUNTIFUL — Recent renovations to Saint Olaf Parish in Bountiful include many modifications that make the church, school and campus accessible to people with disabilities; the parish’s efforts led to recognition by the diocesan Commission for People with Disabilities, which presented it with the 2024 Catholics Can Award.

 The award recognizes “individuals and parishes who seek to include everyone, especially people with disabilities in active parish life,” according to information from the commission. “We also recognize individuals with disabilities who themselves are strong witnesses to their Catholic faith.”

Both St. Olaf Parish and Kelly McCarthy, a parishioner at Holy Spirit Mission in Duchesne, received the Catholics Can Award this year. McCarthy received his award from Bishop Oscar A. Solis during a Mass at St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Midvale on Oct. 13. Carol Ruddell, a member of the diocesan Commission for People with Disabilities, presented the award to Father Andrzej Skrzypiec, pastor of Saint Olaf Parish, following an Oct. 20 Mass at the parish.

“With the goal of creating a parish campus that is more welcoming and inclusive of all people, St. Olaf’s, under the direction of Fr. Andrzej, has embarked on an initiative to make St. Olaf’s accessible for everyone,” Ruddell said before presenting the award. “This is no small task for a parish established in the 1940s, with several buildings having come and gone, and when building codes haven’t always addressed accessibility. Add to that, the challenge of the slope of the Bountiful hillside. But this didn’t stop Fr. Andrzej and the parishioners of St. Olaf’s.”

Among the renovations at the parish were an increase in the number of disability parking spaces and accessible entrances, and ring cameras at entrances so that someone needing assistance can ask for help from another  person, Ruddell said. In addition, inside the church, traditional door handles were replaced with lever style handles, a doorway was widened to increase access to the restrooms, and an accessible family restroom was added, she said. The parish is also in the process of obtaining an assistive listening device system.

“Fr. Andrzej’s leadership and the parish’s dedication to these changes not only complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but creates a space where everyone, with and without disabilities, can fully access the space and join together in fellowship and worship,” Ruddell said.

As he accepted the award, Fr. Skrzypiec thanked the parishioners and said that it was due to their support that the parish received the award.