Accessibility in BBYO

April 24, 2023
Rosie Silver

Manhattan, New York, United States

Class of 2023

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My name is Rosie Silver. As many people know in BBYO, I recently had reconstructive foot surgery causing me to leave BBYO for a month. I needed this surgery because I was born with clubfoot, but I have it in both feet. It’s when you're born with feet facing inwards. I had surgery to fix it when I was little, but last year, I started experiencing more pain in my feet to the point where I would cry if I walked. It was becoming hard for me because I am chapter Sh’licha and I would be steering two Shabbats at IC 2023. I went to my regional leadership training in a wheelchair, I was embarrassed and didn’t want to show up. I was in pain and stayed the whole time. I was in a wheelchair until a week before IC, then a knee scooter while there. Before IC I sent an email asking if stuff would be accessible and they said yes, but when I got to IC I found it wasn’t as accessible as I thought it would be. I was told to go to many places to solve my problems, and they helped me get what I needed. One thing I remember is on LEADs day, I was trying to get on the bus with one foot, and I almost fell. When I was getting off the bus, even though I wouldn’t admit it, I was scared I was gonna fall. Someone lent a hand, and we went down the bus stairs together. This got me thinking, what can we do to further accessibility in BBYO. Accessibility is a hard thing to accomplish because not all our programs we host are accessible for people in wheelchairs or on crutches. After the past few months of my foot surgery I was thinking there should be more wheelchair-accessible events so they can have a wonderful experience 

Rosie Silver is a BBG from MHR, who is the sh'licha of her chapter!

All views expressed on content written for The Shofar represent the opinions and thoughts of the individual authors. The author biography represents the author at the time in which they were in BBYO.

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