When a group of concerned cat lovers founded Tree House Humane Society forty years ago, they probably never could have dreamed all their organization would accomplish in the coming decades. Next spring, the organization hopes to launch a new chapter as they break ground on a state-of-the-art adoption facility in Rogers Park.
“We’ve expanded and retrofitted as much as we can at our headquarters on Carmen and really need to build a new facility to house our many programs,” says Jenny Schlueter, development director & Feral Friends TNR program manager. “We take in so many cats that are sick or injured and we do what we can to get them healthy and to shorten isolation time while keeping our current population healthy. Because of that, we clean intensely to keep our facility sterile. Our new shelter will need to be constructed with materials that are easier to clean. Better ventilation through a new HVAC-system is also important.”
Tree House’s niche has been to rescue the sick, injured, abused and neglected cats that many other shelters and rescues won’t admit. Once they are taken in and nursed back to health, the cats are housed throughout the cageless shelter until they find a home. Tree House also hosts a variety of other programs that range from community education to a pet food pantry for low-income families to monitoring and managing Chicago’s feral cat community. The BDVM Mac Lean Clinic, a low-cost spay and neuter clinic, is operated out of their Bucktown location.
Highlights of the new shelter
“In our new facility, we will finally be able to have a multi-purpose room that will be a home to a variety of education programs – from TNR to Kitten Kindergarten to school programs,” says Schlueter. “We also hope to offer that room to other rescue groups to hold adoption events. Since we are having the building designed to our specifications, we will be able to better organize the space to house our cats. For cats that are shy and stressed out by the shelter environment, we’ll be adding single and double cat condos to give them longer acclimation periods to settle into our shelter environment.”
Tree House is hoping to break ground in the spring and will move out of the Carmen location when the new building is ready. As planning gets underway, the organization will be looking for sponsors with naming potential for different rooms and sections of the shelter. It will also include a totally enclosed outdoor space – similar to a room currently in use at their Bucktown location – for use by some the shelter’s long-term, sanctuary residents. After the shelter is up and running, the organization will focus on the planning, development and creation of a low-cost veterinary clinic at the site.
Plans for low-cost veterinary clinic
“We’ve found out through our Monday clinic days at the BDVM Mac Lean Clinic that there are so many people who could benefit from a low-cost clinic,” add Schlueter. “Currently, the only clinic in the city is with the Animal Welfare League on the far south side. The Rogers Park location will be able to offer veterinary care, vaccinations and other services for the north side, Evanston and Skokie residents, helping more people take care of their animals for the long term. This will help many families who can't afford veterinary continue to care for their pets.”
Tree House was founded by a group of people who were concerned about the lack of services for animals in Chicago. They held meetings, planned, organized and took in needy strays, caring for them in their own homes. Eventually, they purchased the location on Carmen and moved operations there, expanding in 1989. The Bucktown location was acquired in 2007. To date, Tree House has found homes for over 16,000 cats and provided low-cost spay and neuter services to over 20,000 cats and dogs in Chicago. Learn more about Tree House online, see cats available for adoption or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
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