Nestled in the heart of Calistoga is the Holy Assumption Monastery, a long standing Orthodox monastery that has been an active part of the community since 1947. OCCIF provided a loan so that Holy Assumption could have a new residence house to provide a home for the nuns now and into the future
“When [the nuns of Holy Assumption] got here the original Saint Nicholas house was ready for honorable retirement,” said Mother Melania of Holy Assumption. “We talked to various people over the years and it was going to cost somewhere between $200,000 to $300,000 to maybe get 20 more years of [use]. We thought that doesn’t make sense for the future sisters so we started looking into tearing it down and building the new family house.”
After receiving a capital improvement loan from OCCIF and after many months of work, the new Saint Nicholas house is now fully operational. The residence has made a major improvement in the lives of the Nuns who reside at Holy Absolution. “Besides creating a piece of the monastery property, the new Saint Nicholas house is handicap accessible,” noted Mother Macrina. The new Saint Nicholas house features ramps into the main building and an elevator to the second floor. “We knew that we needed Saint Nicholas house to accommodate nuns who either had long time term disabilities or maybe who have accidents,” said Mother Macrina.
This new home helps the Holy Assumption monastery continue their vital work in the community, from providing services to teaching students to community outreach.
Working with OCCIF was a positive experience for Holy Assumption. “One of the benefits of working with OCCIF was knowing that we were working with people who were invested in seeing us succeed,” notes Mother Macrina. “That’s a huge difference from working with a traditional bank.”