From our Board president, Jessica O’Brien:
I’m sure most of you are aware of the Federal Government’s CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act) which was signed into law on March 27th. This Act includes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which offers loans to organizations of less than 500 employees to help them keep employees on the payroll. These loans have very favorable terms—there is a forgivable amount equal to about 80% of the loan, and an interest rate of only 1% on the remaining loan, all or part of which can be prepaid with no penalty.
In early April, the WUU Finance Committee, chaired by Ben Puckett, with Board approval, decided to apply for a PPP loan of about $52,000. The loan would pay the salaries and benefits of our full-time and part-time employees for eight weeks, as well as eligible interest and utilities (not to exceed 25% of the loan). WUU employees are the Minister (Rev. Laura), Director of Religious Education (Austen), Program Assistant (Rachel), Financial Assistant (Felicity), Facilities Manager (Joe), Choir Director (Jamie), Music Accompanist (Dave R), and our childcare providers.
Ben, Felicity, Dave Banks, and Vicki Hall worked hard to collect all the detailed information required for the loan application. We were fortunate to have the guidance of Ken Moran, loan officer from Chesapeake Bank, who was responsive and supportive during the application process. The loan was approved the same day the application was submitted (April 10), and we received the funds on April 17th. This is very good news for us at WUU. At this point in time, it’s difficult to know how our finances will look over the next few months. We have lost rental income because our buildings are closed; our Stewardship Drive is somewhat handicapped since we can’t meet together, and possibly some folks may not be able to keep up with the pledge they have already made.
Most importantly, now we are reassured that it will not be necessary to cut work hours or furlough any of our wonderful staff. This is a great relief to all of us and reflects the best of our Unitarian Universalist values.
And from our minister, Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig:
Thank you, Jessica, for this helpful update and for your leadership throughout this challenging time!
WUU community, I have a whole bunch of thanks to share with you today, starting with our board members and financial leaders. Most WUUs might not realize how hard our leadership has been working behind the scenes to ensure our congregation’s stability and resilience in this time. Finance chair Ben Puckett, Treasurer Dave Banks, incoming treasurer Vicki Hall, and Financial Assistant Felicity Montgomery have spent many hours not only pulling the PPP loan paperwork together, but also rigorously monitoring our income and expenses in the service of keeping WUU in good shape and on mission. Meanwhile, our board members and ministry team leaders have been so present, enthusiastic, and sensible as we feel our way through this unprecedented situation together. WUUs, you have some great leaders here!
I also want to highlight the work of your wonderful staff, each of whom has risen to the occasion in ways that serve our community and gladden my heart:
First of all Jamie Bartlett—Jamie, we are so glad you and your family are feeling better! Folks, Jamie was the one who worked with Justice Craig to set up Justice’s beautiful piano music this past Sunday. She is also signing up volunteer musicians for the weeks to come, so please reach out to her if you’d like to play. Even though true choral singing is one of the things that just can’t happen on Zoom right now, Jamie is also leading weekly choir chats to keep our choir connected.
And Dave Robbins—Dave’s piano playing and singing from his living room have brightened our Sunday mornings immensely. I love his knack of picking just the right piece to express an emotion or an idea. We are all grateful!
Austen Petersen—as our fearless Director of Religious Education, Austen has been my partner in rebooting congregational life online. Did you know that our high school and middle school classes are now doing regular Sunday-evening check-ins, and many of our younger kids are participating in daily story time and weekly yoga classes? It’s no easy feat to figure out how to gather kids online while they are already having to spend so much time in online school, but Austen is listening to our families and setting up as many opportunities as the kids have energy for. Also, she’s taken on recruiting and training the facilitators for our breakout groups on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.
P.S. A shout-out goes to Evan Varney and our childcare staff too! Evan is the one leading our weekly kids’ yoga classes. Look for more kids’ offerings by our childcare staff soon as well.
Joe Cross—you might wonder, what’s our Facilities Manager up to while the campus buildings are closed? Joe and our Campus Improvement Team have seized this moment to spiff up the buildings and grounds with a few needed repairs. Joe is also staying in touch with our renters and working on a plan for how to safely reopen the main building, whenever that becomes possible.
Felicity Montgomery—when Felicity stepped into the Financial Assistant position in January, she had no idea that within weeks we’d be calling on her to work from home and set up a mobile banking system for the first time. But she’s done it, during a particularly busy time of the year for WUU’s finances, with grace and great resilience. Thank you!
And last but not least, Administrative & Communications Assistant Rachel McCabe—Rachel has been scheduling more Zoom meetings in the last two months than I can count, while keeping the now-virtual office running smoothly and working with our Communications Team to make sure our website is up to date, our email communications are helpful, and our Facebook page is vibrant.
Let me close with a word of appreciation for…you! Each and every one of you, the members of the WUU community, inspire me daily. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the way you responded when the need for a mass quarantine first became clear, and ever since—with decency, care for one another, and resolve. I love seeing so many of you on each Sunday in online worship and throughout the week. (Did you know our online attendance has been even higher than overall attendance was before we closed the building?!) And I love hearing your stories of how you’re helping each other and serving the larger community. Though we don’t know how long this pandemic will last, I do know—because I know you—that your WUU community will come through it strong, loving, and ready to serve. Bless you all, hang in there, and see you online again soon!
With love,
Rev. Laura