Camp Golden Years Forever-Home Fund
It should be no surprise to anyone that times are a changin’. Over the last year, it’s been harder and harder to keep things in motion here at Camp, and recently we had to make some big decisions to keep Camp chuggin’ along. We made the decision to move out of our building and temporarily scale back. This decision was incredibly hard to make, but ultimately one I think will put Camp in a better position to keep operating and rescuing more seniors in need for years to come. Ultimately the rent in the building we were in was increasing, and that, teamed up with utilities, would cost us over $6,000 a month just to keep the doors open.
On top of that, we needed to hire more help to care for all the dogs calling Camp home. We’ve managed to get by with volunteers and 1-2 caretakers the last few years, but it wasn’t easy by any means. Keeping a kennel-free facility with over 20 seniors and facilitating volunteers, visitors, tours, and adoptions, would take more help and if Camp stayed open we would need to hire at least three more Caretakers to share duties to safely and confidently care for our Recruits. In all, I felt the higher cost to operate, teamed up with the shaky giving economy, would put us in a position where we would be trying to keep the doors open but wouldn’t be able to fulfill our commitment to properly care for our seniors behind those doors.
The truth is we have a fantastic support base, anytime we have asked for something, y’all have had our backs, and I’m confident if we made the ask to keep the doors open, we could figure out a way to pay the rent for another year but I don’t believe that was or is the best path for Camp at this time. At this time, I believe we need to focus on sustainability, and the upkeep isn’t sustainable without the resources. That said, Camp will be strictly foster-based until we can secure the resources to open it back up with the proper support. As much as this doesn’t sound like an ideal situation, this shift ensures we can continue. The best outcome is that the time and funds saved by closing the facility, for now, can help us grow in other vital areas. Admittedly I know there are plenty of areas and aspects of Camp that need more time and nurturing if Camp is to keep this Old Dog Army chargin’ forward. A temporary slowdown will allow time to look at what works, what doesn't , and how we can improve.
Now with all that out there I want to clarify all of our Recruits are A-Okay. Many Recruits got adopted before we left the building, and we moved the rest of the kiddos to my home, who now spend their day bossin’ me around like it’s their job (same as usual). Please know Camp is still fightin’ the good fight and rescuing seniors in need, but for now, we will have to lean heavily on folks willing to foster as we don’t have the space. If you’re local and willing to bring a Recruit into your home, bring them to appointments, and help find a them a forever-home, please sign up! If you believe in our mission and would like to provide a donation to Camp to find a permanent home and open its doors to support more senior dogs in-need, we ask you to “Pledge Allegiance to the Old Dogs at Camp Golden Years”. You can honor your pledge today or in the future. If you think you would like to support us anytime in the next 18 months, please take the pledge. Essentially, if we don’t secure pledges, we don’t have the support of the people, so pledging shows us you have our back. I believe that our supporters will come through with helping us raise funds to open back up within 12-18 months. Just know that until then, our Recruits will be cared for. Yes, we will have to slow down intake, but as long as I’m still kickin’, any prior or future Recruit we take in will be fully covered medically and will always have a home at my home:) The mission will move forward!