Cat Adoption Team (CAT) has made our home in a 30,000 sq. ft. industrial building in Sherwood, Ore., for over two decades. As a nonprofit, we know how to stretch a budget and resources. But even our scrappiness can only keep outdated systems going for so long.
Proper airflow impacts disease and temperature control. At over 20 years old, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in our building was struggling. In recent years, we’d even lost the ability to source parts for it. To add to these woes, our roof was years past its prime. Leaks were becoming more frequent and more costly.
Then Summer 2021 hit and with it, a record-breaking heatwave. Several days of triple-digit temperatures effectively killed the portion of HVAC keeping our offices cool. Thankfully the section of the building housing our cats was not affected, but it was clear that it was time to act.
CAT embarked on a $200,000 roof and HVAC replacement project. The repairs were massive but necessary, and were not included in the year’s original budget. We dug into our reserves to pay the contractors. Then we reached out to our friends and supporters. And you responded!
A mailing requesting funds to help rebuild our reserves and cover the costs of the HVAC and roof repairs went out in September. Since then, over 400 of you have answered the call. What an outstanding outpouring of support!
“We’d like to thank our CAT family once again for making big projects like this possible,” says CAT’s executive director Karen Green, “We are still blown away by the incredible response to our request.”
With a new roof over our heads and an updated HVAC system in place, both felines and humans are safer and more comfortable. Thank you for enabling us to continue our lifesaving work!
