(RNS) Voice of the Faithful, the cash-strapped lay Catholic reform group that was formed in the wake of the Catholic sex abuse scandal, said a last-ditch appeal for funds has brought in enough money to keep it running through Sept. 1.
The Boston-based group had issued an appeal for “immediate help” from donors to raise $60,000 to fund operations through the summer. Spokeswoman Jessica Lillie said that appeal yielded at least $63,000.
“We plan on rebuilding our financial structure so that something like this doesn’t happen again,” she said. “Summer months are slow for every nonprofit, but especially in these times.”
Lillie said the money will fund the group’s operations through the end of August, when officials plan to unveil a revised strategic plan that they hope will get members excited and lead to an increase in funding.
Still, she said the group’s fiscal forecast for the rest of the year remains uncertain, and the group is essentially living paycheck-to-paycheck with only two full-time staffers and a host of volunteers.
“We’re not going to say we’ve got this money and that’s (all we need to do),” she said. “We still have to keep going to our donors and expanding our donor base.”
What began as a small gathering in a church basement outside Boston has become a 25,000-member organization in just seven years. Membership peaked at about 40,000 after the scandal erupted in early 2002, but has been falling ever since.
The group’s mission is to support survivors of clergy sex abuse and “priests of integrity” while also seeking structural change, transparency and greater lay involvement within the Catholic Church.
