Communities
Each year, the Retirement Fund for Religious (RFR) provides funding to hundreds of eligible religious communities to help underwrite the day-to-day care of senior members and to bolster retirement savings. Special consultative and financial support is also available for communities with critical shortages in retirement funding.
Below, click on a photo to read how RFR programs help religious communities care for senior members.
-
The Midwest Augustinians
Chicago, Illinois
The Midwest Augustinians faced a challenge common among religious communities today—an outdated and costly facility that no longer met the needs of senior members. Planning and Implementation Assistance, made possible by the Retirement Fund for Religious, enabled the Augustinians to determine the best solution to their property issue and to develop a new approach to elder care. Today, well elders live with active friars at houses throughout the province. Friars requiring assisted or skilled care reside at a nearby retirement facility, where the Augustinians have established a unique canonical community. Now all elders, regardless of their level of care, are able to live in community.
-
Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry
West Hartford, Connecticut
Like many religious communities, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry have always cared for their elderly and infirm members at their motherhouse. In recent years, however, providing onsite care while trying to maintain their expansive motherhouse has strained the community's finances. And while they enjoy an abundance of space, much of it is ill-suited to the needs of their senior members. Financial and consultative assistance, made possible by the Retirement Fund for Religious, are helping the community to develop strategies that will enable them to determine the best use of their motherhouse while creating a continuum of care for all their members.
Follow their progress (PDF).
-
Our Lady of the Angels
Greenfield, Wisconsin
For many religious institutes, providing appropriate care for members with memory loss is among the most challenging and costly aspects of retirement planning. Such was the case for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Central Pacific Province, and the School Sisters of St. Francis, U.S. Province, who recently partnered to build a specialized center for members with memory loss and dementia. The sponsoring communities also collaborated with area organizations and health-care providers to develop the facility and to provide for its ongoing operation. Planning and Implementation Assistance, made possible by the Retirement Fund for Religious, helped make their vision a reality. Our Lady of the Angels Memory-Care Facility opened in February 2011.
Read about the new facility (PDF).