<div>Hi friends!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>My name is Sheida Soleimani, and I am the Founder and Executive Director of <strong>Congress of the Birds</strong>, <em>which is Rhode Island’s only avian rehabilitation center</em> dedicated to saving injured and orphaned birds through rehabilitative care, education, advocacy, and conservation.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728878721244698_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*getting ready to examine an injured Great Horned Owl, photo by Jessica Rinaldi for The Boston Globe</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Though I started out on my own, we’ve expanded rapidly, no more so than in the past year, in which we’ve become a 501(c)3 organization (long overdue!), trained over 50 volunteers (thank you!), received over 2,000 avian patients, and, incredibly, received a donation of 42 acres of secluded woodlands in Chepachet, Rhode Island, where we plan to build a release center for the rehabilitated birds in our care.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>A release center means that our rehabilitated patients will have the best chance of success once released into the wild. And to create a release center means we need to build aviaries and flight enclosures. One major purpose of these aviaries is to help birds build up their pectoral flight muscles. Without proper conditioning, a bird may not be able to survive if it’s “hard-released” into the wild. A large flight aviary—ranging in size from 10’ long for a small-to-medium-sized songbird, 20’ for a small raptor, 40 to 60’ for large raptors, and 100’ + for an eagle—allows for birds to be properly conditioned and sometimes “soft released.” In other words, they get to practice flying. And they get to acclimate to their habitat, before going out on their own.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728866396306596_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*a nestling Red-Shouldered Hawk in our clinic</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>During their pre-release time, our avian guests will get to know the surrounding environment. After as little as a week and as long as two months (great horned owls are slow learners!), we open the aviary door to let them come and go as they please. After a few days, after learning to find their way, they set out into the world, free, autonomous, and wild.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>Help us make these dreams come true so that we can give our native and migratory wild birds a chance to live in a world that helps them rather than hurts them.</em> This is our first fundraiser, and we would be honored if you can help us build five of a proposed 20 enclosures before May 2025.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728866430243351_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*A Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher patient we had this summer! She weighed less than a penny!</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are fortunate that <strong>every dollar you give will be 100% matched by a private donor</strong> (this is HUGE for us)!
</div>
<div>We also should mention that <strong>we are not state funded and have no institutional or corporate donors, but rely exclusively on donations from our community and from people like you.</strong>
</div>
<div>Congress of the Birds is 24/7: we never turn away an injured or orphaned bird, and our volunteers help us pick up birds from around the state.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you are able to give something, we would be so grateful. Your gift will help us keep up our momentum and solve our biggest problem, which is a lack of flight enclosures across the state in which injured birds can rebuild their pectoral flight muscles and juvenile birds can learn to fly. These spaces — ranging in size from 20’ L to 100’ L for an eagle enclosure — give these birds the best chance possible to succeed in the wild. <strong>Did we mention that we’re a 501(c)3 organization and that all donations are tax deductible?</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We truly appreciate our community, friends, and family. All that we’ve accomplished so far—and will accomplish—wouldn’t be possible without you.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728867448892313_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*releasing an American Robin at the land this past August, photo by Rachel Maeve</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>My Story</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I started rehabbing wildlife with my maman, a political refugee who was a nurse back in our home country of I r an. After seeking refugee status and moving to the United States, she was unable to continue nursing, even though she still wanted to care for and nurture people. With one route blocked, she found another, and started volunteering at a local wildlife rehabilitation center near our home in the corn fields in Loveland, Ohio. I was raised with the wild animals she rehabilitated—an opossum or a raccoon one week, a woodpecker or a mockingbird the next—and this is how rehabilitating animals became a passion of my own.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I became a Rhode Island state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator in 2015, shortly after moving here and realizing that this is what was missing in my life. In 2020, I became one of very few Federally Licensed Migratory Bird Rehabilitators in the state. For the past decade, I’ve been working as a home rehabber, receiving calls from anyone and everyone in the state and directing them to drop off animals on my porch.
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728879004317637_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*examining a Carolina Wren who was caught in a glue trap, photo by Jessica Rinaldi for The Boston Globe</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In 2018, I founded Congress of the Birds after realizing that the few bird rehabilitators in the state were aging out or burning out. I am one of the only rehabilitators in the state that rehabs and releases birds, and the only one who does so in such high numbers. Each year since, we’ve taken in more and more birds, and begun training volunteers to help care for them. I strongly believe that caring for animals must be a collective responsibility and not something to do alone. I’m so lucky to be supported by our community and so incredibly grateful for all the support we have gotten so far.
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728878096693892_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div>* '<em>Safekeeping'</em>, <em>a photo from my series 'Ghostwriter' - My maman's hand feeds a nest of baby robins that were in our care</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The Land</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In May, we received a donation of 42 acres of pristine and secluded woodlands and wetlands in northwestern Rhode Island. This is the perfect place to build a release center for all of our birds who are ready to get back to the wild! This is a game changer for us—and for the birds. These woods are home to so many rare species of birds, and the perfect habitat for us to release our rehabbed birds into.
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728867482894107_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*a TINY Ruby-Throated Hummingbird nestling that was in our care this past season</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Donations</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I’m not one to ask for help, but on behalf of the birds in my care, and our small new organization, I would be foolish to not ask for it. We need all the help we can get!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Our current facilities limit our ability to provide flight conditioning for our birds. To recap, the enclosures at the land center will:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Provide a spacious environment for conditioning and exercise
</div>
<div>Feature knitted steel mesh and wood slats to protect birds' feathers from damage (enclosures that damage feather condition dramatically reduce a bird’s chances at surviving.
</div>
<div>Enhance rehabilitation outcomes for all species of birds by releasing them into an environment far from human interference
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>*Donation Tiers:*
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Nestling ($10-$49)
</div>
<div>Fledgling ($50-$99)
</div>
<div>Flight ($100-$499)
</div>
<div>Winged Guardian ($500-$999)
</div>
<div>Avian Angel ($1,000+)
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Stretch Goals
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If by a magic stroke of the wand we are able to reach our goals, here are some other major needs that we want to solve:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>$75,000: Expand our Elmwood rehab facility so that we can better rehabilitate sea birds and shore birds; build specialty tubs and enclosures. This is the Ocean State, after all!!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>$100,000: We need a staff! We would love to be able to hire our most trusted senior members of our volunteer team to become permanent employees.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728878907712788_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*Jonathan and I getting ready to force feed a debilitated Cooper's Hawk, photo by Rachel Maeve</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What You Can Also Do</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>*Share Our Fundraiser:* Spread the word about Congress of the Birds on social media and by word-of-mouth so that we can protect and preserve our feathered friends.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Encourage your friends to follow us @congress.of.the.birds on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/congress.of.the.birds?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&amp;igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/83445339_1728868423257115_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><em>*the land!!!</em>
</div>

Gregory Jerome Avila

Anonymous

Lisa Wall

Kristen Goulart

Laurie Villiard

Leanna Walsh

Margaret Paolo

Faiza Mirza

Jillian Navarrete

Gregory Sargeant

Help Build an Avian Release Center for Congress of the Birds

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Build an Avian Release Center for Congress of the Birds

Still $1,075 to go. Help us build momentum.