04/09/2025
Please read the below updated post for information on our shelter project. This post will remain pinned to the top of the page and updates added as needed to ensure transparency/public awareness.
9/4/25 - As there have been some public concerns about this project, we are posting a brief update to keep everyone informed. At the current moment, we are saving all of our shelter funds we have received (ARPA grant mentioned below and the $11,500 LEDA grant). Our plan is to still build at the fairgrounds, however we need to ensure its sustainability first. We have been supporting the fairgrounds in their efforts to bring events to the county that both raise funding for its continuance and give the community fun things to do. The fairgrounds remains a non profit entity that is managed by a board of directors. They do not receive any funding from the county and rely solely on donations, grants, and monies made from events. Volunteers put in 40-60 hour weeks there maintaining the grounds, planning events, and fundraising. We hope our collaboration helps to bring awareness to their efforts and helps to create a place that Lincoln Countians can be proud of, and a place that we can eventually call home. ❤️
5/19/25 - We’ve had a lot of questions about our future shelter since making the location announcement, so we’re making this post to hopefully clear some things up.
The shelter is NOT going to be owned, operated, or funded by the county. It will belong to us alone with an agreement with the Lincoln County Memorial Fairgrounds (also not owned by the county). Both are nonprofit 501(c)(3) entities.
Therefore, there is no ongoing funding for the build. All we have is the initial amount of ARPA funding we were granted. That’s it.
Our shelter will also NOT function as the other animal shelters you see in the area. They all have paid, full time staff and receive funding from various resources not available to us at this time. Our shelter will be 100% ran by volunteers and paid for by donations/grants.
Because we will not have paid staff, this means that there will not be daily “open” hours. We will also not be able to take in any animals by drop off. All intakes will have to be approved in advance by a volunteer as our space will be limited. We also cannot take in more animals than we can responsibly care for, physically and financially.
It may be quite a while before we open. Maybe years. As stated above, we have very little funding at this time. It is NOT enough to complete the project by any means. We are working on fundraising ideas, have a GoFundMe going, and will be applying for some grants. We are hoping maybe some local contractors can volunteer their services as well.
For the time being, all animals in our care are in foster homes. One of the main goals of this shelter is to alleviate the stress on our fosters. Some of our fosters have had dogs for over a year. They need a break! We also need to get these dogs to a more visible space where we can have adoption days and be open during Fairground events.
So while we are excited about having a place to build, we have a very long road ahead. In addition to raising funds for the shelter, we still have to get in enough donations to take care of the 20+ dogs already in our care. This isn’t cheap and we stress about money on a daily basis. We’re still hoping some rich person comes along and decides to fund everything 🤣 but until that happens, we’ll keep begging for money and doing every type on fundraiser we can!
If you have any additional questions, please comment below and we will answer them as best we can. Again, we appreciate all the support and excitement! m
