Spiritual Life Committee Urges 'HAB for Hoag' be Operational for July 2020; Seeks Tax-Saving Gifts by Dec.31, 2019

HAB IS AN ABBREVIATION FOR

HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE BATHROOM

The Spiritual Life Committee has decided to move ahead on its approved project to add a handicapped accessible bathroom to Hoag in time for the 2020 Season beginning July 1st. It is planned to be built in the east end of the back room which is the northeast corner of the total building. Having accessible facilities enables us to better qualify for the programmatic grants awarded by the Arts Council of Wyoming County from New York State Grants for the Arts.

The Spiritual Life Committee suggests the following for helping this very useful dream become a reality: If you have need of reducing your reported taxable income for the 2019 tax year, please consider a sizable tax-free contribution to Silver Lake Institute, a 501c3 Non-Profit and Tax-Exempt organization, for the purpose of upgrading Hoag Memorial Art Gallery with Handicapped Accessible facilities. All donations must be received by the Institute in time to be deposited while still in the year 2019. That means your generosity must take place shortly after Christmas Day which will provide enough time for a deposit to be reflected for 2019 both in the giver's records and in those of the Institute. You will receive a Thank You Receipt for your contribution which should be kept with your tax records.

After trying out Stoody Hall as a home base for Worship this past season, the Spiritual Life Committee was able to do a comparison between Stoody Hall and Hoag Memorial Art Gallery. The committee concluded they would like to have the Big Blue Dock and surrounding green area as their regular location for weekly worship services with the Hoag Art Gallery first floor being the rain location. The SLI Trustees have approved their request.

They also concluded that because our programmatic grants from the State and County are partially based on having handicapped accessible facilities including bathrooms, it was now time to make the SLI's Educational and Arts Building, namely Hoag, into a handicapped accessible building. Spiritual Life Committee members studied the possibilities and put together a workable proposal to make the east end of Hoag's back room (formerly the Library) into the Handicapped Accessible Bathroom (HAB). The proposal went to the Board and received enthusiastic agreement.

The Committee continues to consult with Chuck Dusel and other members of the Trustees who are well versed in construction and engineering. They are hoping to raise most of the funds by the end of the year if at all possible, so construction can begin in Spring. They are taking part of their inspiration from the HAB installed at Epworth a number of years back, thereby qualifying Epworth for continued programmatic grants.