Sylvania Franciscan Sister Diana Lynn Eckel, congregational minister, top right, gives a grant check for $9,100 from Support Our Aging Religious, Inc. (SOAR!) to Cheryl King, administrator of Rosary Care Center. Rosary Care residents at the presentation are, from left, Sylvania Franciscan Sisters Mary Pius Serewa and Marie Muskala and Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father James Bradley. (Photo courtesy of Sylvania Franciscans)

The Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania received a $9,100 grant to purchase medical equipment for Rosary Care Center, the long-term care facility for women and men religious on the Sylvania Franciscan campus.

The Ursuline Sisters of Toledo were awarded a grant totaling $14,891, which has been designated for bathroom renovations at Ursuline Center, the nursing home facility for sisters and priests. The renovations and repairs are designed to make the central bathing area at the center more handicapped accessible.

The grants are part of $1 million in 58 grants SOAR! gave in 2009 to religious congregations.
 
In the review of all grant applications, SOAR! board members noted this year there were more requests for help with very basic needs than in other years. A grant may be helpful in the short run, but without greater assistance, SOAR! stated, the economic situations of many religious congregations will continue to be problematic.

According to SOAR!, the current loss of returns on investments is of grave concern. Operating budgets are dependent on earnings of members and returns on investments. With these losses, and fewer members gainfully employed because of advancing age, many religious congregations are confronting a double setback in budgeting responsibly to meet the basic needs of their members.