The Conway Area Humane Society is the recipient of a $45,000 grant from the Ham Charitable Foundation. The funds will be used to assist with the shelter’s planned building and program expansion planned for the fall of 2017.
Currently, the shelter has 4,000 sq. ft. of unfinished space. The shelter has begun a plan to transform the unused area into a sizeable indoor dog exercise center, several offices for staff, and a library/conference room for meetings and humane education programming.
“The Ham Foundation is pleased to award a $45,000 grant to the Conway Area Humane Society. This grant award will be used to assist in renovations necessary to expand programs at CAHS. Since 1999 they have provided vital services to our community,” said Ham Foundation Execitive Director Bob Murphy.
The indoor dog rec room will provide year-long opportunities for the shelter dogs to exercise, play and receive training. It will also be open to use by the community for training classes and special programs, including programs that focus on youth school groups and community programs.
“The shelter is currently dealing with our 4th cruelty case this year” said CAHS Executive Director Virginia Moore. “If we had this indoor exercise space it would have been so valuable for exercising and socializing the dogs in long-term care.”
In addition, the shelter plans on moving the staff offices into the new space in order to be closer to the animals and frontline operations. This will also open up opportunities for the shelter to expand the spay/neuter clinic, while creating isolation rooms better suited for caring for very young animals, such as newborn puppies.
“We have been holding off on exposing puppies to our current set up” said Debra Cameron, Operations Director. “But in recent years, we’ve had a number of pregnant females, including a Great Dane who just had three puppies soon to arrive back to the shelter from foster care. Clearly, we want to be in the position to offer the best care possible to these mothers and puppies. We have come to a point where we have outgrown the space we have and it is time to make the move.”
If you are interested in helping with the capital campaign for shelter’s expansion project please contact Virginia Moore at (603) 447-5605 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Photo Caption: Left to Right: Karen Milford Ham Foundation Advisory Board, Virginia Moore, CAHS Executive Director and Canine Friend Mr. Bates, Les Schoof, CAHS Board Member, Linda Eldridge Ham Foundation Board, Bob Murphy Ham Foundation Executive Director, Debra Cameron, CAHS Operations Director with Canine Friend Molly , and Sut Marshall Ham Foundation Advisory Board.