Fundraising for Urgent Landslide Repairs

During Holy Week, not one but two serious landslides developed on the Hermitage property: one immediately underneath the guesthouse, and another on the main road across from St. John's House. This latter slide threatens not only the entrance road itself, but also all of the monastery utility lines. The diameter of this slide is approximately 180 feet.

Our monks began making stop-gap repairs to stabilize the guest house immediately during Holy Week, and also contacted the utility companies to request the move of as many of the utility lines as possible to the other side of the road (one utility pole carrying the electrical and telecommunications lines had begun to lean into the ravine, and was pulling the connections away from the adjacent building). However, some of the utilities are underground, and we could not avoid losing part of our septic system. So far the underground natural gas line has held, but we are unsure if the water line is intact since we shut it off as soon as we became aware that it was in danger.

Since Pascha, we have hired professionals to repair the hillside underneath the guesthouse. Work is progressing well, thanks be to God, but there is still a long way to go. We need to put down a culvert for the entire length of the creek between the existing guesthouse and the new house being built across from it, and then back-fill the entire ravine up to the level of the banks. This will effectively prevent the hill from being able to move any further.

However, it has proved much more difficult to accurately diagnose and engineer a solution for the slide affecting the main road. Our engineer has recently completed a revised proposal, and we are now ready to move forward on that job. God willing, we will be able to save the remaining utilities as well as effect repairs to the damaged septic line. However, we continue to experience extremely heavy rainfall, and we need to move quickly to ensure the damage does not get any worse.

Our estimate for both projects currently stands at around $175,000. If you are willing and able to make a donation of any size to help us complete these urgent repairs, we would be extremely grateful. Checks may be sent to the address below.

Thank you for your support and your prayers! May the Lord reward you in His Kingdom.

Hermitage of the Holy Cross
Attn: Landslide Repairs
505 Holy Cross Rd.
Wayne, WV 25570