It’s a move the sisters have made out of necessity. Soluk has been a nun for 36 years and recalls the days when more women entered religious life and held paying jobs to support their religious community and the ministries the order ran. But with an aging population, SSMI has become more dependent on supporters.
The sisters have begun the Lubov SSMI Foundation, run by laity, to support the order’s Holy Family long-term care facility in Winnipeg, which opened in 1957 and has 276 beds for the elderly, and a Ukrainian Catholic school for children nursery-age to Grade 8 that has operated since 1905.
“People have always been very generous to the sisters, helping them out. But as the community gets smaller and smaller, it relies more on the laity to support them and to help administrate both ministries here in Winnipeg,” said Lesia Sianchuk, Lubov CEO.
The long-term care facility, in partnership with the government, is planning an additional building and needs to raise part of the capital cost.
As for the school, it will be housed in a brand new building, “and 100 per cent of the dollars they need will be coming from donations, which is the $15- million campaign,” said Sianchuk. “So instead of each organization forming its own development office, the sisters in review with a group of laity decided the best approach to realize their vision” for the school, for Holy Name and future ventures.
“Even if the sisters maybe no longer can play a big role in those ministries, at least their charism is there and we will still carry on with the financial resources,” Sianchuk said.
If the foundation did not exist, Soluk says the school would last for a few more years before the building would fall apart and the nursing home would stay as it is.
“We’re looking very positive at it and it will bring in the capital that we need and we will be able to continue our ministry,” she said.
“Over the years, the sisters have a strong base of people who support them. But by co-ordinating the effort and using a professional approach to fundraising, these projects can become a reality,” said Sianchuk. “Would we be able to build a new school without a development office or development support? Perhaps but perhaps not.”
Without a co-ordinated effort she believes it would take laity much longer to realize the goals. Lubov provides the background work to raise money, manage donors and train volunteers. Faceto- face solicitation and keeping donors in contact with only one Lubov representative as opposed to multiple pleas for help are also key to a successful campaign.
SSMI, belonging to the Eastern rite, was founded in 1892 in Zuhel, Ukraine. Its first mission outside of Ukraine and Europe was to Canada in the early 1900s. The sisters follow Ukrainian Catholics and are now in 15 countries and in every province in Canada from British Columbia to Quebec.
“Sadly, as in all congregations, except for India and Asia, there are fewer and fewer vocations,” said Soluk.
The sisters have worked in schools, hospitals and orphanages. The organizations they could no longer take care of have been closed, taken over by government or put in the care of Catholic foundations.
As for the organizations that still exist, such as the Holy Family nursing facility, people — Ukrainian or not — come “because of the service and the Christian attitude and the respect for life and respect for people and for the elderly,” said Soluk. “They’re treated with dignity and with love and with care. And so we would certainly like that to continue.”