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News & Announcements

Envision Fund Spring Awards and the Pandemic

April 22, 2020

Dear CPC Family,

Like so many other aspects of the life of our church, this year’s Envision awards have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I’d like to take a moment to share with you an update from the Envision Board on where we stand right now, and what our next steps will be.

For our March 1 application deadline, we received 9 applications for a total of $370,213. To most of us, March 1 feels like a lifetime ago, before the time of social-distancing, school closures, and stay-at-home orders. When we met later in March to begin our deliberations, it became quickly apparent that the world was already a much different place than it was back when we initially received these applications.

Even a month later, much uncertainty remains, but what is apparent is that the priorities and operations of CPC and its partner organizations are not the same now as they were two months ago. Given this level of uncertainty, the board chose to focus our attention on mission partners involved in giving direct assistance to our neighbors in this time of crisis, and to defer making any further decisions until the needs of our church and global community in light of this new reality become more clear.

In response to the economic crisis that our community is experiencing, we have awarded $20,000 to Catonsville Emergency Assistance for the construction of new exterior ramps for their building’s front and rear entrances. CEA is a longtime partner of Catonsville Presbyterian Church, and the services they provide to our local community are more important now than ever. In this time of acute need and increased demand for their assistance, the construction of new ramps will allow them to serve the community in a safer and more dignified manner.

With Session’s approval, we have deferred consideration of the remaining applications from March 1 which meet our minimum selection criteria to a specially appointed June 1 selection cycle. We will also accept new applications for funding at this time. Applicants who submitted proposals for March 1 have been informed of this decision, and will be given the opportunity to have their proposals considered as-is, to submit new or modified proposals, or to withdraw their proposals as appropriate given their own circumstances. We will be publicizing the June 1 application deadline via the Messenger as well as our website and Facebook pages.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or any other board member.

Wishing you the peace and comfort of Christ in these trying times,

Alex Hall

Chair, Envision Board

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