Ohtani Fund to Help BCA Temples

It’s Available for Repairs, Upgrades

Any given Sunday, across the BCA’s 63 member temples, churches and Sanghas, the scene is typically the same. The Kansho bell rings and echoes through the Hondo and temple buildings calling everyone to morning service. 

As you sit down in the Hondo and close your eyes, the smell of incense, and the sound of people talking and catching up on the week brings you back to a special place. 

Many refer to their temple or church as their second home. It is a place where families get together to physically connect to a sense of community and become a Sangha. One understated character in this story that often does not receive as much appreciation is the actual building which surrounds the Sangha. 

Across the country, over the last 125 years, our pioneers mortgaged their homes, farms, and pledged their business assets to qualify for loans and financing to construct these amazing buildings in our community, with an inspiring amount of foresight and sacrifice. 

These remarkable reminders of our history are now experiencing their own challenges. Wildfires, climate change, arson, vandalism, and even basic deferred maintenance issues threaten these structures. 

With that in mind, the BCA has restored and funded the Koshin Ohtani Building Fund for the benefit of our member temples and churches. The fund provides low-interest loans with favorable terms for the repair, remodel, and new construction of temple facilities across the BCA. 

With an initial grant of $200,000 from the Dharma Forward campaign, the fund will provide applicants with the ability to start emergency repairs, supplement their existing financing, or even refinance all or a portion of their existing loans with higher interest rates. 

As applicants repay their loans and the lower rate of interest, the fund will make additional loans available to other applicants, which means BCA member temples and churches will be helping each other through the fund, ensuring that our collective efforts will not only benefit our own temple buildings, but also the facilities of other temples and churches in the BCA. 

Sadly, we may never know when the fund might be necessary for your temple, but we hope that you will utilize these funds to honor our pioneers and help save or maintain your buildings for future generations. 

Thank you to those who contributed to Dharma Forward to allow for the fund to be restored. If your temple is interested in applying for these funds, or if you would like to make an individual donation to increase the funds available for our member temples and churches, please contact Glenn Inanaga at ginanaga@bcahq.org.