Casey's Safe Haven

I am a volunteer and on the board of Casey's. Casey's has saved my life. You see, my daughter Emma was killed in a horrible car accident on April 30th, 2024. Emma loved horses and found Casey's when she needed service hours for school to graduate. She fell in love with the horses and ponies at Casey's and even when she exceeded her service hours, she continued to volunteer there. She fell in love with a rescue there named Bandit and he became her love. Emma was diagnosed on the spectrum and while things in life weren't easy for her, she always felt at home at Casey's. She felt she could be herself and she blossomed just being there. As Emma's mom, seeing what Casey's did for her was amazing, I couldn't believe the transformation in her. Emma asked me to start volunteering with her and I did. The year and half I spent at Casey's with Emma was amazing. The horses and ponies transformed Emma and gave her confidence. She grew right before my eyes. When Emma passed, I knew I had to go to Casey's. I knew that is where I had to be. It became my sanctuary, my safe space, my place where I felt my daughter the most. I take care of Bandit and all the other horses have helped me heal from losing my best friend, my everything. Without Casey's, I wouldn't have made it through the hardest time in my life. Now Casey's is fighting for their life. They just found out they are losing their home. The owners have put the property up for sale and Casey's is left to figure out the rest. We need your help to try to save our home. We need to try to raise enough funds to buy the property that houses the animals that need us as much as we need them. Please help us save Casey's home. Help us save the home that our horses and ponies know and the place where I feel my daughter the most. Only you can help us make this happen!! Thank you!

Tuesday, April 30th, 2024, my best friend, my beautiful daughter, Emma, was suddenly taken away from me in a horrible car accident when she was struck by a semi-truck on her way to school. She was my world, and I don't know how to live without her. The only thing I know to do is to honor her memory by loving her horse, Bandit, and supporting the place she loved to be the most, Casey's Safe Haven Holistic Horse Rescue.

Casey's Safe Haven Holistic Horse Rescue was a place where Emma worked and loved to hang out. She share-boarded a beautiful horse named Bandit that she loved like her own. Casey's takes in rescues and ponies that are in need of help and love. These horses are so well taken care of and so loved that this place was so near to Emma's heart. Her favorites besides Bandit were Holly and Candy, but she loved them all.

To honor her memory and in lieu of flowers or gifts, Emma would want everyone to donate to Casey's Safe Haven Holistic Horse Rescue. This page is going to honor that wish for her. Thank you for your love and support for Emma's memory. She loved you all.

You can make a difference by donating today to Casey's Safe Haven Horse Rescue and Sanctuary.

Casey’s is located in a rural town northwest of Chicago. We are non-profit organization licensed as both a sanctuary and rescue. We are the only licensed sanctuary in northern Illinois which means certain rescues will live out their lives with us because of health and/or age and will never be able to be adopted out. Our Sanctuary budget is our largest expense because of health reasons requiring vet and medical care to keep them healthy and comfortable. Equines come to Casey’s in a variety of ways - Those that will live out their retirement years with us, often coming to us with not only emotional pain but physical needs that negate the ability to find them a forever home. Others come to us for a variety of reasons, such as neglect, abuse, death of an owner, and financial reasons. These equines are taken in with the goal of first rehabbing them, making sure they are healthy, and then finding a loving, forever home to live out their lives.

One of our Sanctuary rescues is a little pony named Cece. Cece was rescued from a hoarding situation and was found tied up behind the garage. Due to a badly malformed hoof resulting from an untreated injury, other rescues had said no to her because a local vet and farrier recommended that she be put down. But not Casey’s! Last year we thought we were going to lose Cece from a terrible infection that developed in her hoof. Her spirit proved to be indomitable! We never expected her to walk normally because the foot was so badly deformed and infected, but she proved us wrong. The good news is that we eliminated the infection and the angle of Cece’s hoof has slowly changed through the work that Mitch, our barn manager/trainer and his farrier have done using special shoe supports they designed. Watch the “before and after” movie included. Cece will follow Mitch like a puppy in showing her gratitude.

Casey’s is a relatively small operation. Our annual expense budget is approximately $250,000. We were hit very, very hard by the pandemic because the major source of our funding comes from events and fundraisers. Through the pandemic, we cancelled many fundraising events. It has been a very slow process in coming back. Our average cost for maintaining our equines now exceeds the norm due to special dietary needs, supplements, medicines, and more frequent vet care. Like everyone else, inflation has hit us hard. We have made an effort to control our fixed costs, but our variable costs, such as hay, feed, and vet visits have risen by over 25%.

Please consider helping us reach our goals of $10,000, no matter how small the contribution may be. The funds will go towards our Sanctuary in keeping our retired equines healthy and cared for. To find out how and more about us, visit our website https://caseyssafehaven.org.