A lifesaving donation
South Suburban Humane Society expanding to Homewood, adding capacity for dogs, cats
An anonymous donation of $120,000 has enabled Chicago Heights-based South Suburban Humane Society to purchase a long-closed animal hospital at 183rd and Harwood in Homewood, said Emily Klehm, CEO of the shelter.
“We’re so excited. It will almost double the capacity for the humane society and will really benefit dogs in this area,” Klehm said.
The new site, which Klehm expects to open by April 1, will offer adoption services. Intakes will continue to be handled at the society’s main location at 1103 West End Ave., Chicago Heights.
Located just behind Blueberry Hill Pancake House, the new location offers greater visibility because of nearby retail and busy 183rd Street, Klehm said. It will be able to house about 45 dogs, nearly doubling the shelter’s current capacity of 60 canines, as well as several cats.
Klehm said she stumbled across the vacant property last summer while the shelter was struggling to keep up with an overload of stray intakes due to issues at another local shelter.
She reached out to Homewood Mayor Richard Hofeld about using a newly secured donation to buy the property.
“I’m a big supporter of that group,” Hofeld said.
A dog lover who has owned a dozen labs over the years, Hofeld made headlines just over a year ago when he was rescued from an icy pond at the
Izaak Walton Preserve.
While on a walk Dec. 10, 2017, his beloved black lab Annie fell into the water and couldn’t get out. Hofeld tried to help her but ended up falling in as well.
After 20 minutes in the icy water, Hofeld and Annie were pulled out by a jogger and a rescue dive team. Today, both he and his pet are fine, he said.
To commemorate that event and to further help the South Suburban Humane Society, Hofeld is planning a “much safer” re-enactment of his accident at 1 p.m. Jan. 12. The event will be a fundraiser benefiting SSHS.
The public is invited to join him behind the Science Center on Martin Avenue for a quick dip into a pool. Village officials and SSHS staffers are expected to take the plunge.
The money will go toward renovating the new Homewood extension of the shelter, Hofeld said.
The new facility, he said, is in a highly visible location.
“I hope the dogs benefit from it,” he said. “And I hope that Homewood benefits from the spillover effect, that people will come out to look at the dogs and adopt the dogs and stop and get something to eat or shop in town.”
The building’s previous owner left suddenly nearly four years ago, Hofeld said, and the property has been bank-owned since.
“When Emily called and said she was interested and asked for my support. I said ‘certainly,’ ” he said.
“I think (the shelter) serves a need,” he said. “There’s a place for a nonprofit in our town.”
Klehm said the additional space will benefit other towns as well. It may enable the shelter to provide stray/hold services to other south suburbs that have been asking for contracts.
The 4,500-square-foot hospital was built to also have boarding, so there are already 30 indoor/outdoor kennels that are still in good shape, she said. The previous owner also left behind quite a bit of equipment, including 45 stainless steel cages, she said.
But because the building has been vacant so long, Klehm said she expects there will be some significant renovation costs.
She said the floor needs to be replaced with polished concrete and plumbing and boiler issues need to be addressed.
“We’ll be launching an online fundraising campaign,” she said.
Additional donations from businessman and veterinarian Claude Gendreau, who owns La Banque Hotel and La Voute Bistro in Homewood, as well as from PetSmart Charities and John Coyne, of Coyne Veterinary services, which offers low-cost clinic services at SSHS, will be used for some of the renovations, Klehm said.
“We’re hoping the community responds and we’re hoping to get some contractors who will donate their services, if not materials,” she said.
“Homewood is such a great community of people who care about their community so we know we’ll get more volunteers,” she said. “We think it can really lead to a lot of amazing things for the area and for the pets as a whole.”