The board of directors for SOAR! (Support Our Aging Religious) has approved $1.3 million in grants to assist aging Catholic sisters, brothers, and priests in religious orders. These include six grants in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 

These grants, totaling $1,302,235, will be distributed in 74 Catholic religious congregations of men and women in 17 states and the District of Columbia; they will benefit 9,036 senior men and women religious. 

SOAR! grants assist religious communities in caring for their aging members, and are awarded for specific needs, to help ensure the safety and dignity of men and women religious. With this assistance, many more Catholic sisters and brothers are continued to age in place, and can remain at home with their communities. 

The grants in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles include: 

  • a $16,000 grant for the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit in Los Angeles to install a stairlift in their retirement home for their aging sisters, who are unable to safely climb the stairs to their rooms;
  • a $25,000 grant for the Lovers of Holy Cross of Los Angeles in Gardena to renovate bathrooms so that they can provide a safe environment for their aging sisters.

The Daughters of Mary and Joseph in Ranchos Palos Verdes, the Sisters of Notre Dame in Thousand Oaks, the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles in Alhambra, and the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart in Northridge also received grants.

“It gives me great joy to report to our benefactors how their donations are making a difference in the lives of our aging religious men and women,” said SOAR! president Sister Kathleen Lunsmann, IHM. “Together with our benefactors, SOAR! hit our highest level of annual grant awards. It is only with the generosity of our donors that we are able to assist aging religious with $1.3 million in support this year.”

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