We identified the location of our animal sanctuary property in October of 2020. This lush farmland, located only 15 minutes away from downtown Chapel Hill, boasts several large and open pastures, three small creeks, several rolling hills - and acres and acres of trails and forest. It has always been our intention to work with the land as we create this place of hope and healing for animals in need of refuge to connect with children living in at-risk and underserved communities.
Since the very beginning, all clearing out of old brush, on-surface and buried trash and invasive plants and trees has been done with an eye on conserving the bucolic, natural beauty of this property. We feel strongly about conservation and green building. Our goal is to build out the entire sanctuary village as environmentally responsibly as possible. That means being fully solar-powered, implementing systems for the reuse of rain and waste water, and incorporating a multitude of energy efficient resources. It means staying away from harsh chemicals and pesticides when developing our landscape, including planting natural pest deterrents on some parts of the land and fortifying designated habitat areas for pollinators on other parts of the land. And it means educating visiting communities on the merits of conservation and environmental responsbility through our outdoor youth programs and our ongoing development of on-site educational resources.
There is so very much to go - but see how far we've come to date.
Since identifying the location of our animal sanctuary property in October of 2020, we have accomplished a lot of work. We started with 83 acres of completely undeveloped land.
To date we have now:
August, 2024 Update!
In early 2021 we had purchased an exceptionally used tractor - as in over 50 years' used. We got it for a wonderful price, and it served its usefulness - but working to fix it again and again finally proved to be too difficult. Although we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow tractor time from from some very generous people multiple times, we finally realized that we most definitely needed to finally get on our own. August marked our very first month with our new (much-less used) tractor, which has served us quite well so far!
We also laid out some new concrete pads, built a new well house, and got started on electrical work throughout the Welcome & Pet Adoption Center.
July, 2024 Update!
We spent this month installing the framing we needed to finally hang drywall! This was an extensive process, so we are thrilled to finally be done with that part. In addition, we laid out the decking for the beautiful upstairs patio that overlooks some incredible views across our sanctuary.
June, 2024 Update!
One of the first things we did when starting interior work in the Welcome & Pet Adoption Center was to insulate it. This was quite an effort given the the height of this building - but it's something that will pay off for years to come.
We also laid down the flooring for the Cat Cafe & Lounge!! It's amazing to see how it clearly shapes the entire space, so we can better visualize how that 1700 square foot lounge will look when it is fully built out.
May, 2024 Update!
Finishing the exterior build of our Welcome & Pet Adoption Center, we got started on the interior build by readying it to be insulated. We also formally buried the water lines from our activated well to our vet clinic and to our Welcome Center!
As our vet clinic continues to be busier, we doubled our solar power capabilities, adding 100% more solar panels that are currently positioned in a pasture, to be relocated onto the roof of our main building when it is time. We also finished pulling grid power to the sanctuary! Although we are running our sanctuary on solar power, we want to have grid power ready for backup purposes should we need it. Erecting electrical poles at the edge of our property, we chose to bury the power lines that reach across our property to reach our sanctuary village!
April, 2024 Update!
We continued our build of our Welcome & Pet Adoption Center, finished the roofing, and started the build out of the lean-to sides to create additional programming spaces and outdoor enrichment areas for the animals. We also cleared more of the outdoor area behind the center, in order to start landscaping our activity center, welcomed more volunteers who helped to beautify our space, and continued to activate our well!
March, 2024 Update!
We made significant progress on the build of our 6,700 sq ft. indoor/outdoor Welcome & Pet Adoption Center in March and designed our Sanctuary Cat Cafe & Lounge! We now have the siding up, the roof on, and our windows installed. As we continue to build out our outdoor components, we are also preparing to dry in the interior!
February, 2024 Update!
We finalized the framework, started placing siding and framed out all the sections for the windows. There will be a LOT of windows, as we designed this space to very much feel like you are connected to the beautiful farmland that is home to Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary. Next up we finish placing the siding, put up the roof, and we start to place the windows!
January, 2024 Update!
We received the framework that we have meticulously designed over the past year and we currently have a team on the ground building the steel structure of our Welcome & Pet Adoption Center! Given that it is winter, we are expecting plenty of stops and starts due to weather. But we will keep pushing ahead each and every day.
November/December, 2023 Update!
We poured concrete for the foundation slab of our Welcome Center! We'd had to reschedule this quite a few times because of excessively rainy weather - but then were blessed with a full week of dry sunshine, and our awesome construction crew worked from dawn until way past dark, laying down a perfect slab on which we will build the center, along with a front and back patio. We also set up all or our plumbing and drainage areas to enable all of our operations within the center.
Next up is building the Welcome Center structure where we can greet our community, offer pet care education, host a variety of youth programs, volunteer orientation programs, foster care appreciation events, community programs and much more! This will also be where we can offer an interim space for homeless pets and their puppies or kittens to have a quite place to decompress. Mamas who have given birth in the shelter need to be pulled as soon as possible as overcrowded shelters can be quite dangerous for vulnerable puppies and kittens. Having a quiet area for them, a safe harbor after the stress of the shelter, allows us to care for them medically and give them the attention and affection they deserve, while also working to find them foster homes - and then permanent homes - once the babies are a little older.
October, 2023 Update!
We have BROKEN GROUND for the Welcome Center at Beautiful Together! We stood there and cheered as the footprint for the building clearly emerged. From there we packed the ground and laid out the plumbing - next up, we pour concrete!
September, 2023 Update!
We are officially SOLAR POWERED at Beautiful Together, and we could not be more excited about it! Since Day One, we have made it our mission to build out our property with as much of an eye on green building and conservation as possible, so to be able to power our entire clinic operations at the sanctuary with solar power is a huge win for us. We will continue to build out all additional structures at the sanctuary with solar power, along with additional eco-friendly power generating methods, too.
We have also further beautifying our grounds - from planting new grasses and flowering plants to setting up a covered outside area, adding bright and colorful picnic tables, benches and more. We fully welcome volunteers to help us build out our sanctuary property! More updates to come but, after three years of working on all the invisible infrasture parts that enable us to finally build all the visible parts of our sanctuary, we are thrilled to be fully solar powered!
