Ms. Lajoie said by applying for the federal loan he was not trying to improve his bottom line. He was just trying to keep his employees, well, busy.
“I wanted to do my best to support these workers, and I would have done so without the loan, even to the detriment of the community because I feel we have shown them at least some gratitude,” said Lajoie. “Because I’ve been here as a pastor for a year and dealing with the shutdown, I don’t know what I would do (without her). In any case, they are essential to the needs of this community. “
Lajoie said he hoped people understand that communities are small businesses with employees who have to pay taxes and keep their jobs, and that they are not part of large corporations.
“Churches have employees who work, who need jobs. As for my community, we are using this money to help some people who are part of families. We use this money in the same way that a for-profit company uses money, which also adds to its bottom line. As far as I’m concerned, we are … doing it for the benefit of working people who pay taxes themselves, ”he said. “We use this to help people in the same way that a for-profit company helps its employees,” he said.
“I think more communities can be trusted to really care about all of this than some companies out there willing to cut jobs because they are no longer making a profit. I mean the church will still exist if it doesn’t make a profit. If at some point the church is not making a profit, the buildings must close themselves because they cannot keep the lights on. “
The Christ the King Church in Oklahoma City is more than three times the size of Sacred Heart. The community has 1,800 families and a school that raises 520 children. Between full-time and part-time workers, Ms. Rick Stansberry said the ward and school employ 78 people.
When the pandemic shut down the crowds in the community, Stansberry said one of his finance committee members encouraged him to apply for the PPP loan so the community wouldn’t have to lay anyone off.
“When everything was closed, our collection went down pretty quickly because people weren’t coming to church,” Stansberry told CNA.
“In our community, a lot of people are connected to the oil and gas industry and a lot of people have lost their jobs. And so they were suddenly unemployed and had to support their families. Some couldn’t pay the tuition fees. Apparently they were unable to tithe the Church, ”he said.
“I didn’t want to fire people and add to the problem. And some of our part-time workers (employees) are more vulnerable in the sense that they were really dependent on the jobs they had to eat. I didn’t want to fire people, ”said Stansberry.
The part-time workers “were most grateful that we got the loan”.
The loans granted to communities as well as other nonprofits and small businesses through the PPP loan could be used for salaries, utilities, rent and other necessities. Stansberry said its community loan was “100% used on salaries”.
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With the recent gradual reopening of the fairs, Stansberry said donations have “stabilized in some ways” but the financial health of the community and their school is currently a “moving target,” especially with all the uncertainty surrounding the fast upcoming school year.
The school is working on a 40-page document detailing reopening plans with social distancing and masks, as well as frequent disinfection of the school, which in itself “increased our caretaker bill by thousands of dollars”.
But if something changes and reopening becomes impossible, it jeopardizes the future of many Catholic schools – and their staff – Stansberry noted.
“If we can’t reopen in person, I think we’re going to lose a lot of Catholic schools because parents say, ‘Well why should I pay school fees to go to a virtual (Catholic) school when I can? the public free? ‘”
Stansberry said his community also has some key ministries, such as those that feed the homeless and help needy families with food aid, which would have been cut if the community had not qualified for the PPP loan.
And the priest said he wanted to pay his employees and keep his services going.
