We are continuing to make progress on the new parish activities center. As you know, construction projects are always very exciting and sometimes unpredictable. At the beginning of 2021, we thought groundbreaking would take place in June or July, but since then, the materials market has seen big increases in costs and delays in the supply chain and transportation to their destinations. ADAPTIVE Architects and WESPAC Construction have been working very hard to nail down prices, recalculate with subcontractors and refine the project.

Naturally, fundraising is a crucial element and financing a construction loan. We are grateful for the continued generosity of parishioners. We are working with Notre Dame Federal Credit Union (NDFCU) on financing. (No, they are not part of the famous Notre Dame University.) They are a Catholic institution and instrumental in helping expand the work of Catholic projects.

As you probably recall, we started our capital campaign in fall 2019, shortly before the world was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, a lot has happened and there have been pauses in fundraising efforts that were unavoidable. We were unable to do the normal promotion of the campaign in church when the church was closed or nearly empty. Donors were also uncertain of their ability to keep their pledge or to make donations according to their original payment frequency. Donors have died of COVID, while others moved out of state and have not returned to Saint Clare of Assisi.

I believe this project is absolutely necessary for our parish community life and ministry. I also believe most of you agree with me on that. I will be honest with you, the obstacles are greater now than when we first embarked on this goal, but we still need the facilities required by a parish of around 5000 registered homes. The square foot costs of construction of our type has gone up significantly. We might not be able to completely finish the inside of the building by opening day. This could be similar to the way we approached the building of the church with bare walls, plain glass windows, rough concrete floor, temporary altar and lectern and old furniture. But we will get there. It all depends upon our donors: their abilities and their willingness to make a holy sacrifice by sharing their treasure for a greater good: expanding our ability to minister to this community.

We will ask parishioners to consider making immediate gifts instead of the original five year pledges (which started in January 2020). We need cash in hand more than unpaid pledges, but both are helpful.

We currently expect to have a groundbreaking celebration on November 21, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. We will confirm this date and time soon.

For more details, go to our special page, Building the Future Together.

— Fr. Hans Ruygt

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