Dear Friends at Saint Frances Cabrini and
Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parishes:
Praised be Jesus Christ! I wanted to offer a short update about our parish finances
in light of recent developments.
Paycheck Protection Program Loans Each parish has applied for and received Small Business Association loans under the provisions of the recently enacted Paycheck Protection / CARE Program to offer emergency financial assistance in light of the Covid-19 outbreak. The provisions of these loans stipulate that the monies are to be used for payroll and benefit expenses, utilities, and interest payments on pre-existing mortgages for up to 8 weeks. The program and monies are intended to allow employers to keep employees receiving regular, uninterrupted compensation on a short-term basis until regular operating conditions can begin to resume. The loans are forgiven if the employer can document that during the period that the loan is active, only minimal reductions in employee hours or compensation took place.
Each parish is going to be utilizing these loans for the next several pay periods, per the provisions of the loan, to fund our payroll and benefit expenses, our utilities, and at Saint Frances Cabrini our interest payments on our existing mortgage. This will be a great help to our cash flow and operations in the short-term. Once we reach the end of the loan period (mid-June) we will no longer have this assistance, and will again be relying solely on everyone’s contributions for all of our expenses.
This will mean that we will be able to, until further notice, restore our employees to regular compensation, even if in the near future their work restrictions remain because of the health crisis that has forced us to halt our regular activities and ministries.
Your Donations I have been so grateful for the generous response from many of you to our recent requests for emergency funds to keep things running in this very difficult time. The reductions in hours and compensation that we made earlier this month, combined with your donations, have allowed us to meet our expenses which is a tremendous blessing. Thank you so much! My heartfelt “thanks” also to our staff who have made sacrifices to make this possible.
The loans will be a great help in the weeks ahead. Please know that even with the loans, we will still need your regular donations and generosity to help us with the expenses that we are not allowed to use the loan money for. We are also mindful that as the months stretch out ahead of us, well after loan money is gone, we will have to live on whatever we are taking in right now in light of so much uncertainty. Please continue to give in any way that you can.
We all continue to pray that sooner than later, some pattern of life that allows for regular gatherings and worship will resume, and we do so for everyone’s sake. These times have brought strains and challenges to everyone, and we continue to rely on the help of the Lord to move us forward one day at a time. Know of my continued prayers for all of you.