Maplewood Porchfest
Accessibility and Disability Inclusion
Sunday September 1, 2024 1:00pm to 5:00pm
(rain date Monday, Sept. 2)
At Together We Bloom, we are committed to creating a more equitable and accessible community for individuals with disabilities. We believe the community is better for us all when all are included. For the second year at Maplewood Porchfest, we have taken steps to increase the accessibility of the event through:
Further details about each of these supports are below.
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A special thanks to Maplewood Porchfest Committee and Maplewood Township for their cooperation in implementing these initiatives.
For more information about the festival visit: www.maplewoodporchfest.com
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Sign up to bake or buy for our Porchfest bakesale fundraiser HERE!
Sensory Information and Supports
Porchfest is an outdoor music festival where bands and performers play up on the front porches of houses throughout the Hilton neighborhood. A schedule of performers and houses can be found at maplewoodporchfest.com to find the type of music you like.
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The festival can sometimes have large crowds, though there is ample space to spread out. The streets in the north side of the Hilton neighborhood, off of Springfield Ave, tend to attract the biggest crowds. Smaller crowds are in the Lighteningbrook section of the neighborhood. ​
Together We Bloom is hosting a community tent at 182 Franklin Ave that will have chairs, shade, and a sprinkler available to cool down. We will also have our regulation station available with ear plugs to give out, fidgets and ear defenders to borrow.
If you need a break from the music and crowds, you can visit the sensory quiet room at DeHart community center. See below for more information.
Click image to expand map
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Click to download
PDF of map
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Sensory-Friendly
Quiet Room
To increase the accessibility of Porchfest for our neurodivergent neighbors, there will be a sensory-friendly quiet room available inside DeHart Community Center, 120 Burnett Ave, Maplewood. A sensory-friendly quiet room is a designated space designed to provide a calming and regulating environment for children and adults with sensory differences or disabilities who may benefit from a break from the music and activity of Porchfest.
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This room is for adults and children to use. Children should be accompanied by a caregiver.
The sensory-friendly quiet room is free to use. If you're able, please consider a donation so that we may continue our work to make our community more inclusive.
Social Story for
Kids
Click above to download PDF (screen reader accessible)
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Social Story for Adults/Adolescents
Click above to download PDF
(screen reader accessible)
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Porchfest Social Story
and Communication Board
Social Stories are first-person narratives written to introduce a new, unexpected, or challenging situation with simple language and pictures. They help the reader know what to expect and provide options for support.
Anyone can benefit from learning about situations ahead of time but social stories are often particularly helpful for neurodivergent individuals including Autistic people or people with anxiety.
Social stories should be used as a tool to empower and support inclusion and access, not to force compliance with social norms. More suggestions for using this tool are listed at the end of the document.
These accessibility resources are free to download. If you're able, please consider a donation so that we may continue our work to make our community more inclusive.
Porchfest
Communication Board
Some individuals with intellectual, communication, or developmental disabilities benefit from Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) to support their language comprehension and expression, such as communication boards, speech-generating devices, or sign language. Communication partners can model and use this Porchfest communication board by pointing to the pictures on as you read the social story and make comments during Porchfest. A child should never be required to point to the board, communication partners can model and provide opportunity.
Click image to view online
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Click to download
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Physical Accessibility Information
Porchfest takes place in the Hilton neighborhood of Maplewood. Street parking is available in and around the Hilton neighborhood, as well as in free parking lots on Springfield Ave with accessible parking spaces (orange P on map). There is also accessible parking in front of DeHart community Center on Burnet Ave. The southernmost part, also called the Lightening brook section typically has the smallest crowds and is most likely to have street parking nearby to the music.
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There are sidewalks throughout the neighborhood with curb cuts at nearly every intersection. Some streets are closed for pedestrians on the day of the festival. The neighborhood is relatively flat, with a slight grade on the North to South streets off of Springfield ave and in the back of DeHart Park.
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Chairs in the shade are available at the Together We Bloom community tent at 182 Franklin Ave Maplewood.
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Dehart Community Center where the sensory room is located is accessible including ramp to the entrance, door openers, and space on the ground floor.
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Click to download
PDF of map
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Click image to expand map
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