Parish Letter – Roofing Project at St. Joseph (Ferndale)

Dearest St. Joseph Parishioners, 

I need your help to rebuild our parish finances following a necessary roof replacement of the breezeway and parish hall. 

Project Necessity

In the Fall of 2024, Bert Bertshinger, our Regional Director of Facilities, was called to our campus to respond to water running down the walls in the breezeway. He attempted to patch the leak in the short term, but discovered more issues during the investigation, including a rotten underlayer and leaks above the confessionals. Among other problems, the previous roofing work was overlaid (which is always an imperfect patch) and the valleys on the roofing were done in the California style (contributing to water pooling and additional leaks and damage). In addition, the roofs on the Hall and Religious Ed Classrooms were past their respective lifespans, so we suspected damage there, too, even if we had not yet experienced visible leaks. 

Fixing water ingress is not optional. Building administrators must spend that money, whether they have it or not, as letting water leaks continue results in far worse and more expensive building damage in the long term. I instructed Bert to undertake this project as soon as possible and do whatever necessary to make sure this repair lasts for the expected 20 – 30 years. 

Finances

Having now finished the project and found all of the rotten and damaged wood, this project has cost us $107,724. 

Thanks to your long-term generosity, we had $54,804.11 in the Maintenance Fund that allowed us to undertake this project quickly. However, that leaves us $52,919.89 short. 

Because this project was urgent and necessary, I instructed Elizabeth Ames, our Regional Director of Finance, to spend the rest from our Savings Account, leaving our savings at $29,863.21. In order for our parish to stand on a firm financial foundation, we really need 3-months’ operating expenses at hand in our savings account, which would be $103,000. This means that we need to raise $73,000 to get our savings account back where it needs to be. And this needs to be on top of regular tithing (which is necessary to keep our budget balanced). 

If you are willing to make a one-time, extraordinary gift to the parish to allow us to recover from this roofing expense and return to financial stability, I would very much appreciate it.