SBA PPP Loan Approval

From the Finance Committee:

St. Francis de Sales qualified and applied for two federally funded SBA Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) Loans to help our parish navigate the impact from Covid-19.  Bishop Robert Casey, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chicago, provided information on the PPP funds which we would like to share with our parishioners.  Excerpts from his memorandum are included herein.

Parishes that received PPP funds did so because they met the criteria for the loans as outlined in the CARES Act.  The Act required that the loans be used only for payroll and essential expenses such as utility bills.  The funds helped to keep our staff in the Ministry Center and the teachers in our school employed during the pandemic and enabled the Church to provide much needed aid and services during this difficult time.

The loan submission process was handled by Cornerstone Bank which resulted in timely processing, approval and quick receipt of loans proceeds which we were grateful for.  

  1st PPP Loan received:  Apr. 15, 2020 for $513,600.00

  2nd PPP Loan received:  Feb. 25, 2021 for $513,607.00

In short, our parish used the funds for which they qualified for the purposes the Act intended – payroll and essential expenses such as utilities.

In a year that has seen a sharp decline in parish revenues when our church building closed, the CARES Act PPP loans allowed our church and school to retain our staff, protected those employees from needing to seek unemployment and other benefits, ensuring that we could continue educating children and providing services and pastoral care to our congregation in this time of extraordinary need.

We are grateful for the support this program provided and also for the help from Cornerstone Bank in the processing of our loan applications.