By Catholic Review Staff
Two religious orders from Maryland were among the 62 religious congregations in 17 states to receive grants from SOAR! (Support Our Aging Religious).
The Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart in Towson received a $25,000 grant to help replace windows and sliding glass doors in their elderly sisters’ living spaces. The Benedictine Sisters in Ridgely received a $4,000 grant check to purchase new mattresses and lift chairs.
SOAR! Approved grants for nearly $1 million, which will benefit more than 3,500 women and men religious at a median age of 77. According to SOAR!, a nonprofit which began in 1986, more than 60 percent of all religious women and men are over the age of 70 and 32 percent are older than 80.
“According to recent studies, the total under-funded retirement liability for religious congregations is more than $11.6 billion,” a release from SOAR! stated.