Surrey animal sanctuary a victim of land values
A nonprofit that offers a healing place for humans and animals is at risk of losing its home, again. This comes as Kindred Community Farm Sanctuary’s lease at its temporary location in Surrey runs out by the end of summer.
Moreover, the 1144 184 Street ranch has been put up for sale. The landowner is asking $7.5 million for the property.
This will be the second time in less than a year that Kindred may have to move.
In September 2021, the nonprofit formerly known as the Semiahmoo Animal League departed its old Surrey spot at 1965 176 Street.
Kindred had to leave its previous home as it could not meet demands for higher rent and to pay the owner’s property tax.
The group, founded by Keryn Denroche, provides a “forever home” for unwanted animals. The nonprofit uses its rescue animals to deliver therapy programs for children, teens, and adults who have witnessed violence or experienced trauma.
Its therapy animals include horses, cows, sheep, turkeys, chickens, ducks, rabbits, cats, guinea pigs, and others.
Kindred has been raising funds to buy what it calls online a “fur-ever home” of about four hectares (10 acres).
“Something more permanent is what the goal is, and owning property is the ultimate goal,” board president Karen Conyers told the Straight in a phone interview.
Conyers and her husband, Winston, are agents with Sotheby’s International Realty. She has been on the Kindred board since 2012 and has been president of the organization since 2015.
Conyers learned about Kindred when then–White Rock mayor Catherine Ferguson introduced her to Denroche in 2009. The realtor has a soft spot for animals, and she has been involved with the nonprofit ever since.
“I have always been a firm believer that animals enhance our lives,” Conyers said. She said that belief has to do with the way animals relate to people. “They love unconditionally, and you can trust them because they don’t go blabbing your secrets,” she said.
Conyers also explained the Kindred approach of using animal-assisted therapies.
“Children, adults—everybody in between, people in general, it doesn’t matter the age—often respond well to an animal much more so than a person because they’ve been hurt by people,” she said. “They’ve learned not to trust people at all.
“So in order to rebuild their sense of well-being, their sense of self-esteem, their sense of worth, animals come a long way to establish that initial contact, and they start to break through the barriers,” Conyers continued. “And once you start to break through the barriers, then it’s easier for people who have good intentions to help those who need it and get them on a different path.”
Kindred started working with children, especially kids on the run with their mothers from abusive husbands and fathers. The group later expanded its scope to include teens and adults.
“Even the volunteers, they say they get way more out of it more than it gives,” Conyers said about the experience that Kindred brings.
The nonprofit stayed at its former 176 Street location for six and a half years. Conyers said that the property was acquired by its owner in 2011 for $1.8 million. The value of the property has increased to more than $12 million in 10 years.
Kindred was asked to pay a higher rent as well as shoulder the property taxes of about $48,000 a year, according to Conyers. When the group indicated that it was unable to come up with more money, it was told to leave. “We’re a nonprofit, but they didn’t care,” Conyers said.
Kindred had to look for a temporary home, and it found its current location on 184 Street.
Conyers said the owner had told the organization that he had no intention of selling the property for at least several years as it was going to be an investment for his kids. But she noted that all that changed in January 2022 when the property was listed for $8.3 million.
A new listing on March 10 reduced the price to $7.5 million. Kindred is leasing about four hectares of the more than 17-hectare property.
The organization will have its annual general meeting in June this year, and Conyers will be retiring as president during that time. Conyers said she hopes that by that time, Kindred will have raised enough funds to get a mortgage for a property that will serve as its permanent home.
It wants to build a community farm, where it can expand its programs and bring in more animals.
Kindred needs $1 million, an amount that is less than the typical price of a detached home in Metro Vancouver.