Hey so. . .Snow White’s Rescue Cottage has never actually had a cottage. Oops.

The important stuff: we’re a Southern California 501(c)(3) hamster and mouse rescue. Also, right now, the rescue runs out of the home where my husband and I are raising our son.

A few days ago, we took in 71 hamsters from one emergency case. That brought us to 215 animals in care.

We can care for them. They’re safe, separated, treated, fed, and settling in. But this intake made one thing impossible to ignore: We have outgrown our home.

The rescue room is full. Emergency cages are under the stairs. There are hamsters next to our toilet. Rescue dishes take over our kitchen. Our son’s nursery is still also my nighttime office.

But the thing is that people want to help us. We get volunteer applications. People offer their time.

We literally have nowhere to put them.

That’s the part that finally broke the math for me. We don’t just need more space for animals. We need space to say yes to people who want to help us say yes to animals.

Just before this intake, we signed the lease on a tiny 90-square-foot office for adoptions, production, and shipping. It’s a huge step for us, and it will help grow the shop so SWRC can earn more of what it needs. But it can’t house rescue animals. It can’t create quarantine or medical space. It can’t give volunteers somewhere to work.

Oh! And by the way, while we’ve been settling these 71 hamsters, close to 70 more have appeared in our intake inbox.

So we’re doing something big:

We’re working toward SWRC’s first dedicated rescue facility.

A real space for animal housing, quarantine, medical care, washing, storage, adoptions, and volunteers. A place built for the work we are already doing.

We’re researching spaces, zoning, costs, and what SWRC can responsibly sustain.

Why $30,000? Our goal is to raise enough to actually open this space responsibly, not just get the keys. Funds will help cover the lease and deposit, permitting and insurance, animal housing, quarantine and sanitation infrastructure, storage, setup costs, and an initial operating cushion while we transition into the new space.

So. If you can donate, thank you. If you can share this, thank you.

And yeah. Snow White’s Rescue Cottage has never had an actual cottage.

It’s time to give this rescue a home of its own.