DOWAGIAC — Last week, Earl Sears, of Dowagiac, walked to the doors of the Front Street Crossing location of the Cass County Council on Aging, as he does every morning, to use the computers and socialize with friends.

It was a day like any other, except that instead of having a staff member jump up to help him and his walker through the door, Sears was able to simply press a large, blue button and have the doors automatically open for him, allowing him and his mobility aid to pass into the building with ease.

“Think this is wonderful,” he said. “I think it is really, really neat.”

Sears was one of the first customers at the COA to experience the new door opening system, installed that week, which was a result of the of the COA’s Open Door Campaign. Through the campaign, the Front Street Crossing building had all of its entryway doors converted to open with the push of a button to make the building more handicap accessible.

“We are all very excited about this,” said Kelli Casey, manager of the Front Street Crossing COA. “Earl was actually one of my inspirations for this.”

Casey said the doors were needed in the Front Street Crossing for a long time, as she has seen people have trouble opening the doors at the COA since the Front Street Crossing COA opened six years ago.

“Our doors are heavy, and any senior that has a wheelchair, walker or cane, it was just really hard for them to get in,” she said. “It dawned on me to apply for funding, and once the funding came through, it was a no brainer.”

To help cover the cost of the Open Doors Campaign, the COA received a partial grant from The Pokagon Fund, to cover $4,000 of the project costs. The COA will be fundraising throughout the summer to raise the rest of the money needed to cover the cost of making the doors automatic. 

“We are so grateful to have received this grant,” Casey said. “We were overwhelmed and excited when we found out we got [the grant]. … It’s great to partner with [The Pokagon Fund]. We love to provide things to our community, and we are grateful to The Pokagon Fund for helping us do that.”

Calling the Open Door Campaign a logical step for the COA, as the facility is always striving to make itself more handicap accessible, Casey said she hopes the new door system will draw in new visitors to the COA and will remove barriers for the COA’s existing customers and clients.

“It makes it easier for everyone [to have the new door opening system]. It makes us more accessible and will allow more people to visit us in our community,” she said. “Working with the senior population, this will make life easier for them, which is what we are all about.”

As for Sears, he said that he was not only honored to be part of the inspiration for the project, but that he is excited to use the doors going forward.

“I just think this is great,” he said. “I really appreciate these doors being here.”