Religious Orders Receive $1.2 Million In Grants
The board of directors for Support Our Aging Religious has approved $1.2 million in grants to assist aging Catholic Sisters, Brothers and Priests.
These grants will be distributed to 70 Catholic religious congregations of men and women in 18 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico; they will benefit 3,573 men and women religious whose average age is 77. The grants total $1,201,500.
In Indiana, SOAR! awarded grants to the Benedictine Monks of St. Meinrad Archabbey for installation of an emergency-alert-notification system; the Brothers of Holy Cross, Midwest Province in Notre Dame, for purchase of a wheelchair-accessible van; the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, for installation of a stair lift; and the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, for purchase of medical equipment.
SOAR! grants assist religious communities in caring for their senior members. Grants cover expenses for basic needs like handrails, hospital beds and emergency call systems.
“Serving on the grant committee is a joy,” said SOAR! board member Kathy Curran, the chair of the grants committee. “Religious communities of women and men have dedicated their lives to serving others, and now we have the privilege of responding to that great gift by assisting them to meet the challenges of aging.”
As the cost of care continues to rise, the majority of men and women religious lack adequate funding for retirement. Meanwhile, the number of religious to support them in the workforce is dropping. A recent study projected that by 2020, religious past age 70 will outnumber those younger than them by four to one.
SOAR! was formed in 1986 by a group of concerned lay people to help ensure the financial stability of Catholic religious congregations in the care of their elderly and infirm members. In the past 30 years, SOAR! has awarded 1187 grants, totaling more than $17 million, to congregations across the country.
The organization is separate from the annual retirement collection coordinated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.soar-usa.org.
