Trees
I’ve been thinking about trees lately. They’re beginning to bud, and that’s a lovely sight. In addition, last Monday was Earth Day and last Friday was Arbor Day. I note that both days honor ways of caring for the earth, our common home.
One of the articles I read recently argued for the importance of preserving mature trees as well as planting new trees. (You might have noticed we have two new trees near the Parish Center. The city replaced two old, dying trees last year.)
It’s not like we have a lot of trees on our campus. We have a few, though, and plans are to keep them when possible. That’s why we’re contracting with professionals to trim the big linden tree next to Casa Guadalupana (parking lot side), rather than take it down. That helps us do our share to preserve the urban forest. For me, it’s a form of stewardship.
And speaking of stewardship of the environment, I’m delighted to report that our solar project has been approved by the Archdiocese! That makes possible the 30%+ rebates on that project cost, plus 30% on the cost of the electric panel, plus 10%+ of the cost of roof project costs from last year. If everything goes as expected, we might see total rebates over $100,000 in 2025. That’s good to know, as we want to complete payments on the school elevator project ($800,000 loan from 2016) and begin paying down the roof costs. Recall that we financed the roof projects last year, by taking out a line of credit from Catholic Finance Corporation.
All of these projects—particularly the solar installation—have taken more than a year to get to this point. We’ve learned a lot, we made a better case to the Archdiocese, and we’ve positioned our parish to help other parishes interested in solar projects.
For more information on any of these projects, or forthcoming projects (e.g., the parking lot), please email or call me.
Have a great week!
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