Dawn Fleming, CFRE Director of Donor Relations and Planned Giving dfleming@holyfamilyretreat.org 203-232-0444
Questions? Please contact:
860.521.0440 www.holyfamilyretreat.org
West Hartford, CT 06107-3119
303 Tunxis Road
Permit no. 637
Hartford, CT 06101
Paid
US Postage
Nonprofit Org
Resilience Fund Donor Impact Report
Stories of Hope, Reconciliation and Renewal Made Possible by You!
Your support of the Holy Family Resilience Fund,
created in response to the devastating Coronavirus pandemic, touches every aspect of our ministry. Through your generosity in 2020, we have reinvented ourselves to become a spiritual center “without bricks and mortar” and have impacted lives in ways we could not have imagined. We have created this little book to show you just how important you are to people like Bill L., the Farrell family, and Jon K. Like so many others, they turn to Holy Family for spiritual nourishment, perspective, and encouragement.
Because you care, we have been resilient through turbulent times and are planning for a vibrant future.
Ernie Andreoli with Fr. David, Fr. Terry, and Liza at Holy Family to participate in his 70th consecutive retreat. He is the only person to have attended a retreat every year since Holy Family opened. Sadly, Ernie Andreoli passed away at age 93 as this booklet was going to press. If anyone represented the heart and soul of Holy Family, Ernie did. He will be dearly missed by our staff and all who knew him. Rest in peace, dear Ernie.
Because you invest in a place that celebrates the joyful expression of faith through God’s word, music and song and the sacredness of reflection and discernment, we have connected with more people than ever.
Because you go beyond just believing to actually making people’s lives better with your incredible generosity, we have met the moment — in all of its complexity.
We are truly honored to be your partner in creating opportunities to share the love of God and the transcendent purpose that exists in our faith and at Holy Family now and into the future. With gratitude and the utmost appreciation for your kindness,
Thank you so very much! Your support blesses us every single day.
Rev. David Cinquegrani, C.P. Retreat Director
Resilience Fund Donor Impact Report
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“Serenity overtakes you as you pull into the driveway at Holy Family.” ~ Bill L. Although I was a successful attorney with a wonderful wife and family, my disease overtook so much of my life — including my spiritual life. The road to recovery was an arduous one, but eventually, I joined my wife for Mass one Sunday on vacation in Maine. That was a key turning point on my journey back to living fully in faith. In 2001, while still practicing law and with newfound faith in God’s plan for my life, I founded Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, a non-profit organization that helps members of the Connecticut legal community overcome personal, mental health and addiction problems. With God’s strength, I used my name publicly and openly in acknowledging the disease of alcoholism and encouraging as many people as I could to step out of the shade of shame and into the light of recovery.
How YOU help Bill and others like him in recovery . . . My parents were salt of the earth Catholics. Although Dad was a professional football player and entrepreneur, he never missed his annual retreat at Our Mother of Sorrows Passionist Retreat Center in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Mom was also deeply devoted to her faith. She raised three children and taught at a parochial grammar school for many years. My siblings and I were blessed to be raised by the parents we had. But I got away from my religion due to alcoholism.
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Resilience Fund Donor Impact Report
Led by others in recovery, the retreat workshops and AA meetings are restorative. Fr. David and Fr. Terry do an outstanding job of welcoming ALL (and I mean ALL) to enjoy Masses, beautiful music, and time to rest and reflect. The “miracles” you see around the room continue to nourish my soul and inspire me!
Holy Family’s Matt Talbot Retreat program is specially designed for those in recovery. The time I have spent on retreat has enriched and sustained me for eleven years — even bringing me home to two sacraments, Reconciliation and the Eucharist, in a most loving way.”
My life has come full circle, and I understand in the deepest way why Dad never missed a retreat. I don’t intend to miss one either. I am happy to have supported the Resilience Fund and am grateful to everyone who is praying for and helping Holy Family during the pandemic.
Thanks to donors like you, members of this community have found strength to persevere through online programming during the pandemic. Matt Talbot Recovery Retreats are open to all people, from all backgrounds, regardless of whether or not they are a member of a church.
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Navigating the Challenge of Change Through Faith
I also attended the Women’s retreat many times, and after each time I felt refreshed. This is what the church (meaning all of the people we walk with on this journey) and Holy Family mean to us. It not only nourishes our spirituality but feeds our need for community, and it is a place that brings joy to our lives. During the lockdown and pandemic there were so many challenges, but we turned to Holy Family for weekly Mass and were filled with the joy of the Holy Family community. In March 2020, two of our four children were working in cities, another was away at college, and our youngest was finishing up high school at home. We were busy working and tending to family life, such as it was. But things changed quickly when the pandemic hit. Like so many others, our (almost) empty nest became full once again when our adult children returned home. Working remotely and attending classes virtually became the norm. And we all had to find a new equilibrium — including how to celebrate Mass.
Pictured left to right: Megan, Christine, Caitlin, Matthew, Mike, and Connor
Christine and Mike Farrell share their story. Church has always been at the center of our lives and our relationship. Mike and I met in church at college, and throughout all of the joy, trials, and tribulations of raising a family, church has been a cornerstone of our lives. Holy Family has been church for us in many ways before the pandemic. We have a group of friends we met through church, and we have had endless good times together. One of our traditions is to attend Holy Family’s Valentine’s Mass and dinner. As is typical for our group, it became a raucous affair (after Mass, of course), but like most things at Holy Family it brought all of the aspects of church together — spirituality, joy, friendship, and rejuvenation. 4
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We are a family of music lovers, and Holy Family’s music is just outstanding. One of our daughters even took out her hymnal at home during Mass and sang along with the Holy Family choir. For her, “music is her prayer.” It was a beautiful moment for all of us and one we will cherish. We found joy in the common bonds of our faith. I am not so sure we could have survived the pandemic without the spiritual nourishment our family found in connecting with Holy Family. It really kept us tethered to our faith. With that experience to build on, our family continues to connect with Holy Family for Sunday Mass — including an 84-year-old uncle who joins us from Brooklyn, NY.
The virtual Masses at Holy Family offered a unique opportunity for our family to come together as adults to celebrate our faith in a new way.”
We are looking forward to becoming even more involved in Holy Family after the pandemic and are committed to supporting them to ensure their vitality.
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“One of the most important aspects of Holy Family’s ministry is hosting retreats. Being immersed in a spiritual environment for such a long period of time has the largest and most long-standing impact.” ~ Jon K.
When I was just a boy, I remember being struck by how different my dad seemed after his retreat weekends at Holy Family. I would almost say he was on a spiritual high for a while. During my senior year in college, Dad invited me to join him for a weekend at Holy Family. You can only imagine my 20-something self thinking “Am I to give up a fun-filled weekend with friends to go to Holy Family for the whole weekend?” Much to my surprise, I said “yes.” And the rest, as they say, is history. Going on retreat at Holy Family was a turning point for me. Since then, I have not missed a retreat in over twenty years.
When my boys are old enough, I will encourage them to continue our family’s legacy at Holy Family. I can think of no greater gift than that of our faith.”
As the father of three young boys, my time on retreat affords me an opportunity to unplug and step back from life for a while. Being in a spiritual and meditative environment for a whole weekend is really what I need. I have a deep sense of coming home on Holy Family retreat weekends. The themes are so relevant to me personally and often to what is happening in the world. I recall one particular time in my life when I was uncertain about what I wanted to do. The Courage to Hope theme helped me rest in God’s embrace. I came away with the feeling that all would be okay.
Coming home at Holy Family weekend retreats . . . 6
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It is clear to me that great care is taken in developing retreat weekends. They are so thoughtful, the presenters are top-notch, and the music is great. The last talk on Sunday offers very practical ways to take what I discovered on retreat and live the experience. I am proud to call Holy Family my spiritual home and will continue to support it any way I can.
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The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Revenue & Expenses Snapshot Summary Lost Retreat and Event Revenue, March 2020-December 2020
$600,000
Net loss in Retreat and Event Revenue and Expenses
($500,000)
Salaries for Core Staff, IT, Building Modification Expenses
($400,000)
Total Loss Due to Pandemic
$900,000
Total Holy Family Resilience Fund Revenue
$746,724
“The Great Pause” by The Numbers
100% of Resilience Fund donations go toward creating virtual and modified experiences at Holy Family during the pandemic.
44,500 total views
3,100 people gathered
120 folks have
of virtual Sunday Masses with an average of over 600 views per Mass.
at Holy Family this summer for outdoor Masses.
What is the Future of Holy Family?
21,200 Mass cards
1,000 people
participated in our Contemplative programs through Contemplative Christian Experience.
provided comfort with the gift of prayer to folks across the country in this year of great suffering.
participated in online day and evening programs.
(March 2020-December 2020)
14,750 folks were uplifted by our virtual Messages of Hope series.
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($1,100,000)
Unincurred Expenses, March 2020-December 2020
800 views of our virtual Christmas Concert.
360
10,000 visitors
folks attended Mass at Holy Family with distancing.
sought peace and tranquility on our campus.
people attended the outdoor concert.
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150 people in recovery attended Matt Talbot programs as well as Centering and Welcoming Prayer offered virtually.
8 virtual exhibits were offered by the Monastery Gallery of Art.
Resilience Fund Donor Impact Report
As we celebrate 70 years, we are encouraged by the outpouring of engagement and support from our beloved community. As we move through 2021, we anticipate ongoing financial challenges, but we will continue to walk through this great unknown with you. We are so grateful that in the face of a global pandemic, calls for racial justice, and mounting divides across the nation, Holy Family provides a place of inspiration, respite, and spiritual nourishment for you. These times have demanded a great deal of our strength and have pointed to how much we truly need one another.
We at Holy Family are profoundly humbled by the opportunity to continue serving you and emboldened to move into the future with ever more faith in how important our ministry is to you. Resilience Fund Donor Impact Report
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Questions? Please contact: Dawn Fleming, CFRE Director of Donor Relations and Planned Giving dfleming@holyfamilyretreat.org 203-232-0444
303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107-3119 860.521.0440 www.holyfamilyretreat.org