Small Congregation Resource Fund

(Note: the information below relates to the 2002 resolution. Questions about the SCRF can be asked and answered by joining the Small Congregations Group in The Tent).

 

PURPOSE: To provide assistance to small, and underserved UAHC congregations.

PLAN: To grant or loan small, and underserved congregations sufficient money so that, together with their own available funds, the congregations may better serve their congregants.

I. ELIGIBLE CONGREGATIONS AND LOAN ACCELERATION
(a) A congregation must be a member in good standing of the UAHC at the time a grant or loan is requested and at the time a grant or loan is received.
(b) In the event a congregation ceases to be a member of the UAHC while an SRLF SCRF loan is outstanding, such loan, together with all accrued interest, shall become immediately due and payable.
(c) In the event a congregation ceases to be a member (i.e., is terminated) of the UAHC within five (5) years after it receives an SRLF SCRF grant, such grant shall automatically convert to a loan which shall become immediately due and payable, together with compound interest computed at seven percent (7%) quarterly from the date of the conversion.

II. APPLICATION PROCEDURE
(a) An application, in the form attached hereto as Schedule "A" (the "Application"), shall be submitted in triplicate, with the original delivered to the Chair of the SRLF SCRF Committee, UAHC, 633 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6778. and a copy delivered to both the Regional President and Regional Director of the Region in which the congregation is located. The SCRF Committee shall give notice of the Application to both the Regional President and Regional Director of the Region in which the applying congregation is located. The SCRF shall furnish a copy of the congregational application to the congregation's Regional Director and Regional President upon request by either the Regional Director or Regional President.
(b) The application shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the SRLF SCRF Committee, that:
(1) The grant or loan is to be used for the purposes specified in the UAHC resolution dated December 3, 2000 (attached hereto as Schedule "B").
(2) The congregation (i) has a need for the funds that it cannot fulfill from any other reasonable source, and (ii) can accomplish the task or program within a reasonable period of time after it receives the funds.
(3) The application is being made on behalf of the congregation in accordance with the congregation's by-laws or such other document or law which governs congregational action. All resolutions and minutes relating to the application shall be submitted along with the application.
(4) The congregation will be legally bound by all agreements and undertakings it makes.
(5) The congregation has a fiscal plan to repay any SRLF SCRF loan it receives.
(c) The application shall include a representation that the president of the congregation and any other or additional person executing the application on behalf of the congregation have read these Guidelines and Procedures, and agree that they are binding upon the congregation. A copy of these Guidelines and Procedures shall be attached to the application.

III. LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS

 

(a) Except where there is an "Extraordinary Circumstance" (as defined below):

 

 

(1) The total granted to any congregation shall not exceed $20,000 per application.

 

 

(2) The total loaned to any congregation shall not exceed $50,000 per application, less any amounts received by that congregation by way of grant from this Fund in the five years prior to the loan application.

 

 

(3) The interest rate on any loan will be the computed interest rate the UAHC credits to its invested funds at the time the loan is made.

 

 

(4) Loan interest will be payable quarterly, and interest payment will commence no more than twelve (12) months after the loan is made.

 

 

(5) Repayment of loan principal will begin no more than eighteen (18) months after the loan is made.

 

 

(6) Applications must be submitted no later than January 31st to be considered for approval in the then current UAHC fiscal year ending.

 

 

(b) An "Extraordinary Circumstance" shall be deemed to exist whenever, because of circumstances outside of its control, a congregation with an extraordinary and unanticipated need for funds cannot meet all of the limitations and conditions set out in Section III-(a). An Extraordinary Circumstance would include, by way of illustration only, a fire, natural disaster or sudden death or illness of clergy. In the event of an Extraordinary Circumstance, each of the conditions and limitations specified in Section III-(a) shall apply to the extent feasible, as determined by the SRLF SCRF Committee.

 

 

(c) A congregation receiving an SRLF SCRF grant or loan shall execute such documents as are deemed appropriate by the SRLF SCRF Committee or by the UAHC President and Chairman and approved by Counsel of the UAHC.

 

 

(d) Any congregation with an outstanding SRLF SCRF loan will provide the SRLF SCRF Committee with a copy of the congregation's budget immediately upon that budget's approval, but not more than thirty (30) days after the beginning of the congregation's fiscal year.

 

 

(e) Grants and loans must be only for direct expenses or capital needs of a congregation.

 

 

IV. APPROVAL PROCEDURE

 

 

(a) After conferring with the UAHC Regional Director and Regional President, the SRLF SCRF Committee shall either:

 

 

(1) Recommend that the application be approved by the UAHC President and Chairman upon such terms and conditions or with such modifications as the SRLF SCRF shall specify; or

 

 

(2) Reject the application.

 

 

(b) An application recommended by the SRLF SCRF Committee shall be submitted to the UAHC President and Chairman who shall, after consultation with the UAHC Regional Director and the Regional President, either approve or reject the application or refer it back to the SRLF SCRF Committee for further information or consideration. Approved grants or loans shall be made upon the terms and conditions specified in the SRLF SCRF Committee's recommendation with such modifications as may be specified by the UAHC President and Chairman in the approval.

 

 

V. PRE-APPROVED PROGRAMS

 

 

(a) A Pre-Approved Program shall mean a program to make grants or loans available to a multiplicity of synagogues for a specific one-time purpose, which program has been (i) recommended by the SCRF Committee after notice of the proposed program has been given to each Regional Director and Regional President whose jurisdiction includes one or more synagogues eligible for the program, and (ii) approved by the UAHC President and Chairman. By way of illustration and not limitation, a Pre-Approved Program would include grants or loans to synagogues below a specified size to attend a convention or purchase prayer books.

 

 

(b) In recommending approval of a Pre-Approved Program, the SCRF shall:

 

 

(1) describe the purposes of the program;

 

 

(2) specify the amount to be granted or loaned to individual synagogues;

 

 

(3) specify the terms and conditions of such grants or loans;

 

 

(4) identify each synagogue eligible to participate in the program or, alternatively, specify the criteria of eligibility; and

 

 

(5) provide such other information as the UAHC President or Chairman shall request.

 

 

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section IV of these Guidelines, the SCRF may make a grant or loan to a particular synagogue, in accordance with the provisions of a Pre-Approved Program, without further submission to or approval by the UAHC President and Chairman. Notice of each grant and loan made as part of a Pre-Approved Program shall be given by the SCRF Committee to the UAHC President, the UAHC Chairman and the Regional Director and Regional President of the synagogue receiving the grant or loan.

 

 

(d) Except for any provisions of Section IV that are modified by Section V, the SCRF Guidelines shall apply to each grant or loan made under a Pre-Approved Program.