Over the past several months, St. John has been working hard to create a safe, engaging, warm, loving, and healing environment. From the moment you step onto our campus here, whether that is to attend Mass, for a community support group, or for a dance, you should feel the joyous and protective care that is the Catholic Church all around you. Some of these changes are not highly visible, like our new maintenance procedures and fire alerting systems. Some are organizational, like our enforcement of the Safe Environment to protect the young and old alike with appropriate background checks for those active in ministry. And some are highly visible. I would like to spotlight one of these visible ones, especially now with our entire Parish Family now in the area: Parking Lot Safety.
In past articles, I have requested that we all take into account the safety of our community when we park on our campus, especially during Mass and major programs like Faith Formation. It is completely understandable that people want to park as close as possible to the church. Some of our Parish Family have challenges with mobility, and we want to prioritize their ability to celebrate the Sacraments with close parking. Additionally, we have placed signs in key locations, designating those locations for expectant mothers and several veterans. Other signs have been posted to clearly show spots where we cannot have parking. Those throughways are essential for the safety of our entire Parish Family. We need to have clear access for fire trucks and ambulances, in case of a medical incident.
Recently, however, we have seen individuals parking in locations that limit those throughways and could cause significant issues in an emergency. In particular, we need to have no parking on the driveway between St. John and the Naples Park Elementary School next door. Additionally, the gravel areas in the parking lots are not for parking. Those are walkways for pedestrians, so they can safely walk to church. In order to ensure these spaces are used for walkways, we have installed new safety posts with solar lights. This will help those who are walking on campus during the early morning and later evening, lighting their way. It will also illustrate where people cannot park so we can keep those driveways clear and safe.
This past weekend, during the rain, we also noticed a backlog of parking issues during the Faith Formation drop-off and pickup times. The parking lot and driveway around the Claussen Center does have clear signs for where parking can be used during those times, but we cannot have parents sitting in the driveway areas, blocking traffic. Please utilize the back parking lot for parking and walking your family into our facilities. The last thing we would want is for a youth to come out and accidentally be hit when trying to find their car.
Thank you all for helping us continue to enhance the safety and engagement of our campus and our Catholic Church.