CHS presented with the Brick Award at the 110th Annual Meeting of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce

The Brick Award, given to businesses that have substantially upgraded their physical façade and facilities by improving the interior and/or exterior of an existing building, was sponsored this year by the Jackson Commercial Contractors Association. JCCA decided this year they would recognize three establishments – a small size (awarded to JTV), a medium size (CHS), and finally, a large building renovation or construction (awarded to Blaine’s Farm and Fleet).

CHS earned this award for the construction of our new addition that was completed in 2017. 1,200 square feet were added to the south-east corner of the building. The construction includes a new larger space for dog holding, including several indoor-outdoor runs for dogs needing more time to adjust to human interaction, a new surgical space, and a conversion of a garage space to an interior storage and training space.

With the additional space in dog holding CHS has the ability to house 11 more dogs at any given time. It will help ensure that as dogs go home, we have more to replace them on the adoption floor. At times we have dogs that are waiting for surgery or on a stray hold and they cannot be made available yet. Before the new addition, that meant cages would sit empty on the adoption floor. This would leave the public with less choices and therefore less dogs being adopted. That was something we wanted to avoid.

The additional surgery space means not only more space to perform surgeries, but also allowed CHS to move their examination room to the new surgical suite, making room for about 12 more cat cages in a new holding room. That is 12 more cats CHS can accept at any given time, whether they are owner surrenders or strays, helping to ease some strain on the community.

As a limited in-take, no-kill shelter, every cage is a life saved. The more cages we have, the more animals we can house, and the more of a difference we can make for abandoned animals. CHS has seen an increase in adoptions over the years. For example, CHS adopted 1,107 animals in 2017 and more than 1,340 animals in 2018. If this trend continues, CHS will need every bit of space to help, and more donations to ensure each animal is cared for appropriately.

The new addition is possible due to the generosity of the Weatherwax Foundation and a bequest from a supporter. CHS is grateful to the Weatherwax Foundation for all the support they have shown us over the years. The bequest gift allowed CHS to build the bigger and improved dog holding area. We were lucky that this donor thought to put CHS in her will. She was a dog lover so we wanted to do something special with her gift and thought there was nothing better than helping more dogs get adopted. We hope others can see what a huge impact planned giving can have on a non-profit organization and to include places like CHS in their estate planning and wills.

Every animal that comes to CHS is spayed or neutered, brought up-to-date on vaccines, disease tested, and given all the necessary medical attention they need prior to being adopted, including probiotics and supplements that other shelters do not routinely do. While we feel it is important that these animals are as ready, medically and behaviorally, for their forever homes as much as possible, that costs CHS more than what we make in the adoption fees. Conducting more adoptions means we need more funding to ensure these animals get all the care they deserve. As a non-profit, CHS does not receive any money from the government nor do they from other humane societies. Most of our costs are covered through donations by individuals, businesses, foundations, and event income.

O’Harrow Construction was responsible for making the new addition come to life (and generously donated materials and labor to ensure the animals had everything they could possible need) and AE Design Solutions handled all the architecture and design. Below is a diagram showing the expansion.