When we purchased our home, we knew there would be repairs along the way. What we didn’t expect was how those repairs would continue to accumulate year after year. We’ve handled what we could ourselves, paid for repairs as we were able, and continued putting the animals first.

When we became licensed wildlife rehabilitators, we made a promise to always provide the best support we could. This has looked different over the years, and while we have been very excited for improvements to the areas where animals are kept, we don’t need a perfect or remodeled house. Our most important priority is addressing the serious, underlying problems.

We’ve reached the point where the repairs can no longer be managed one project at a time. And because our volunteer efforts operate from our home, the condition of our home directly affects our ability to safely care for wildlife, much less our own safety and wellbeing, too.

This past April, our basement drain overflowed into our home. We discovered that our underground pipes are filled with roots. They were temporarily cleared, but the underlying problem remains and the plumbing ultimately needs to be repaired or replaced.

We’ve also dealt with ongoing foundation issues. The basement flooring is severely cracked and needs significant restoration. Our deck is deteriorating and needs repair, and improved fencing is necessary to make the space safer for the animals in our care.

Even working full time and prioritizing repairs, it’s been difficult to keep up. This has been our busiest year yet with wildlife rehabilitation, and somewhere along the way, we reached the point where we were putting our own home and needs further and further down the list.

After some recent setbacks, we finally had to take an honest look at our finances and everything our home needs. The reality is that these repairs are far beyond what we can reasonably take on ourselves while continuing to care for the animals who depend on us.

We aren’t asking someone else to fix everything for us.

We’re asking for a chance to catch up.

For years, our home and property have provided a place for injured and orphaned animals to be fed, cleaned, monitored, rehabilitated, and eventually move on to their next chapter. We want to continue doing that work for our community.

But we also recognize that we cannot responsibly care for large numbers of wildlife while managing major repairs throughout the same space.

For that reason, we’ll be temporarily limiting our wildlife intake based on our available capacity while we address the most pressing projects. We will continue to be available to our community and will always be honest about what we can and cannot safely take on.

We aren’t walking away. We’re trying to make it sustainable and safe.

We’re setting an initial goal of $25,000 to begin addressing the most urgent repairs and give us some much-needed breathing room.

We know it won’t fix everything. Our known estimates already exceed $50,000, and we still don’t know the full cost of the basement restoration. But reaching this first goal would allow us to finally start addressing the problems we’ve been postponing for years.

We know that’s a huge number. It’s a huge number for us, too.

If you can donate, thank you. If you can share, thank you. Either one helps more than you know.

We don’t regret the work we do. The animals have always come first. And after eight years of putting everything we have into our animals and our community, we’re asking for a little help taking care of the place that makes that work possible.