Another Major Milestone Met

Tonight, we met one of the most important milestones — approval of the zoning commission!  Yes, St Gertrude’s Cottage has been approved for construction and operation.  After tonight, it’s all paperwork.

Three of us went before the commission and answered questions about the operation and the plans.  Our business manager, facility planner, and veterinarian addressed the questions without any hesitation. We have been planning this facility for over a year. We have considered the issues. We have experience in feline management and care. We know how to approach our vision.

We are so relieved and so pleased to have secured this approval. The county sent letters to the people living nearby just in case they would have a problem with a cattery. One of the neighbors even sent us a note wishing us well with our venture.  No problems! The people are so nice in the area. They truly are.

Shortly, we begin our efforts on the building itself. Our plans are for a two-story structure on a walk-out basement — three floors with space set aside for the live-in caretaker.  Come spring, we break ground.

We are excited and very thankful that the Lord has laid these plans for us.

 

So we wait until spring…

Events are moving forward, and it has taken a great deal of effort to finally meet some objectives.  It’s a process, and the goal is a loving home where cats can live out their lives. We’re closer than we were last spring, but with winter underway, we’ll have to hunker down for a few months before we can break ground.

We settled on the property, and it was right under our noses all along.  Funny how that works out.  We have set aside one private wooded acre on the family farm for St. Gertrude’s Cottage.  After making that decision, we met with the zoning folks and learned that new regulations were under consideration. We quickly studied them and even made some recommendations to accommodate our plans.  In short, the regulations passed, and St. Gertrude’s Cottage falls very nicely within the guidelines.  We need only one more approval on the usage.

In the meantime, we approached the state highway folks about building a driveway to cut into the nearest highway. Our proposed access point was not on a curve.  It did not impede any traffic.  It would not cause a safety hazard.  In short, our request was approved.

Next, we had to obtain permission from FEMA to build.  At that point, we hit a big snag.  According to the FEMA records, the acre was on the flooplain; therefore, we could not build a residence there. Big disappointment all around, primarily because the acre sits up on a hill about a eighth of a mile from the nearest river. What’s this with a floodplain?  We sat with that news for a few weeks, wondering what to do. We considered returning to the plan to purchase property. Then we kinda went blank for a while.  We ground to a halt, numb and disappointed. Until, a spouse decided “No” wasn’t the right answer.  What would it take to reverse the decision? We found out and went full speed ahead to challenge it.  Hire one surveyor. Re-survey the area and its elevation. Obtain geographic details from the state offices. Put it all together, and revisit FEMA. In short, our building request was approved.

In the meantime, the Lord led us to a builder who wanted to sell one of his models very cheaply.  It’s huge. It’ll work. It’s the right price. It has to be moved.  That’s not a problem too great to overcome, but it cannot be done now.

The most important building to construct right now is the barn for the horses.  The good news is that it is going up and will be ready for the horses to winter in. So, with energy and resources devoted to the barn, St. Gertrude’s Cottage will wait until spring.

That’s OK. We’ve always known that God’s hand was in our venture. He has helped us learn patience. We know that spring will bring renewed effort and the biggest step to date…groundbreaking for the foundation.

Still, we continue to take calls and emails for information about St. Gertrude’s Cottage. We continue to help people explore their options. We want to be that option. It just won’t happen until this spring.

 

And so it begins…

Having run a successful nonprofit cat rescue organization for several years, I asked God: “What’s the next step?”  I asked that a lot.  Then one day, the sky fell on me.  I joined the ranks of the unemployed.  A couple of cat foster homes decided they had had enough of fostering cats and returned them to me.  Adopted cats started being returned after having been adopted years ago as their new owners lost their jobs and homes.  Things were piling on top of me and doors were slamming.   So, I phoned my mother.  What else is a daughter to do?  My sister phoned me, and I unloaded on her.  What else is a sister to do?  I phoned my pastor counselor and wrung my hands in waves of self-pity.  And at that point…new options came my way.  My pastor saw the hand of God in the turmoil, especially when I told him my sister wanted to join me in a dream I’d had for a long time.

As a rescuer, I often encountered wonderful cats who had outlived their owners.  The owners thought the spouse would care for the cat, or family would, or friends would.  Truth is: they rarely do.  They have pets of their own; they have children to tend to; they have other responsibilities besides caring for another’s cat, no matter how sweet and loving.  We were able to adopt out some of the cats.  A few of them lived out their lives in foster care, never again having a home of their own.  I wanted to fix that.  I wanted to give cat owners secure options.  I wanted to build a home devoted to cats whose owners could no longer care for them.

My sister liked the idea, so together we made our plans, prayed about the next step, and felt God moving in our venture.  We chose the name “St Gertrude’s Cottage” after the patron saint of cats.  We chose “cottage” because we want to build something friendly and intimate.  We chose to build in the rolling bluegrass hills of Kentucky because the area is gentle in so many ways — especially the people.  The other reason: Kentucky is my home state, so it is time to wander back.

After months of planning and preparing, we established St. Gertrude’s Cottage as an LLC in the state of Kentucky.  The date of the incorporation: March 17, St. Gertrude’s Day.  God did a nice little touch with that one.

We have also designed a cattery where our kitty residents can live out their lives safe and comfortable and very much loved.  We built a Web site at www.stgertrudescottage.com, which has attracted a number of potential customers.  We have talked up the idea with cat owners, friends, family, colleagues, bankers, startup investors, and every one of them finds our plans worthy and of great value.  My niece also finds it worthy and has taken ownership in the effort.  She is a veterinarian and plans to devote much of her skill and knowledge to the care of the cats we take into the cattery.  Sometimes called a cat retirement home, sometimes called a lifetime care facility — whatever you call it, we plan to build it.

I am preparing my house for sale so I can move back to Kentucky.  The one thing we don’t have is a property on which to build the cattery.  We don’t want just any bit of land.  We want one close to essential services, yet with enough acerage to give our cat residents solitude and peace as they live out their lives.  We want one that has a barn and pastures for our horses and a residence for an onsite  fulltime caretaker.  We want one that has the blessing of the zoning commission.  We want one close to family and close enough to an airport so we can hop a plane and fetch our future resident when the time comes.

So, we wait.  God has a plan and when it is ready to move forward, we will be ready.