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Board News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOAR! Awards 43 Grants Totaling More Than $600,000
WASHINGTON--Support Our Aging Religious approved 43 grants, totaling more than $600,000 at its winter board meeting in Washington.
Awards ranged from $2,200 to $25,000 to meet numerous needs including that of heating, call, and sprinkler systems; renovations of spaces for handicapped accessibility; replacement of windows and roofs; and purchase of medical and therapeutic equipment.
Grant recipients are in 23 states and Puerto Rico.
Four of the communities received matching grants to help with major fundraising initiatives to pay for major capital expenses.
One grant went to The Villa, a retirement home sponsored by two religious orders, the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart and the Sisters of Mercy. They sought help toward the $46,244 cost to upgrade an obsolete heating and air conditioning system. The collaborative arrangement is one way religious communities are merging resources to maximize effective and efficient care of their elderly and infirm members.
The Sisters of the Holy Cross of Manchester, New Hampshire, received $25,000 toward $250,000 needed to install an elevator in a residence for 60 of their retired and infirm member. Within a week of their receiving the SOAR! award, a former student matched the grant, and the sisters now have $176,000 toward the cost of the elevator.
The sisters of The Order of Saint Benedict at Our Lady of the Rock Monastery in Shaw Island, Washington, for the first time in their history are looking outside monastery walls to friends, family, and neighbors for financial assistance to replace the monastery roof at a cost of $60,000. SOAR assured them of $15,000 if they could match the grant. Mother Hildegard, superior of the monastery, reported that the board is actively pursuing the match. In the meantime, the sisters are working on the farm to support themselves and to serve their neighbors and guests.
The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur of Cincinnati, Ohio share their health center with the Sisters of Saint Joseph and will receive a matching grant of $16,000 to help with the purchase of two therapeutic baths and lifts. A total of 78 sisters reside in independent, assisted, and skilled nursing care units. Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn, director of development, is actively seeking other grants to help cover the total cost of an $80,000 upgrade of the health center.
The awards were made at SOAR!’s February 5 meeting in Washington.
SOAR! was founded in 1986 to assist retired and infirm members of Catholic religious
congregations. More than 600 grants totaling over $7 million have been awarded to congregations in financial need. To contribute to SOAR! contact their website at http://www.soar-usa.org
for more information. |
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