SOUTH SUBURBAN HUMANE SOCIETY OPENS NEW ADOPTION CENTER

The South Suburban Humane Society recently celebrated the opening of their Homewood Adoption Center. Photo Credit: South Suburban Humane Society
The South Suburban Humane Society recently celebrated the opening of their Homewood Adoption Center. Photo Credit: South Suburban Humane Society

South Suburban Humane Society Opens New Adoption Center

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The South Suburban Humane Society recently celebrated the grand opening of their new Adoption Center located on 2207 183rd St. in Homewood. The new location will help the organization provide care for over 500 more animals per year, according to information provided by the South Suburban Human Society.

“This has been a plan of the organization for many years, to have a more visible adoption space in a vibrant community,” said Emily Klehm, CEO of the South Suburban Humane Society. “This adoption center is right in downtown Homewood on a very busy street, 183rd Street, and gives us that opportunity to put homeless pets and their needs right into the view of the community.”

Prior to becoming the Homewood Adoption Center, the building housed the Homewood Animal Hospital and thanks to a generous donor, who bought the building and gifted it to the South Suburban Humane Society, the organization was finally able to open a second facility.

The main location for the South Suburban Humane Society is at 1103 West End Ave. in Chicago Heights which Klehm said is tucked away in a neighborhood and somewhat hidden. The new adoption center will give them some added visibility and additional space to house animals until they are able to be adopted.

The Homewood Adoption Center will be able to house 30 to 45 dogs and 20 cats at a time. There is also an in-house surgical suite for spaying and neutering which will allow them to move animals through the adoption process faster which is important because “the faster they get to adoption, the happier and healthier they are,” according to Klehm.

“We operate a low-cost spay and neuter clinic in Chicago Heights but there’s so much demand from the public for the low-cost services that it’s challenging to meet all the needs. This is going to allow us to serve more of the public’s needs for spay and neuter while still moving pets through to adoption faster,” said Klehm.

In the first weekend that the Homewood Adoption Center was open, 19 animals found their new homes through adoption.

By expanding its footprint with the second facility, the organization’s need for donations and volunteers has also expanded. The South Suburban Humane Society is relying heavily on the support of volunteers to help operate the Homewood Adoption Center. They are also in need of both physical and financial donations.

“It’s a tremendous leap to make a move to having another building so we have started out with pretty minimal staffing and a high reliance upon volunteers. We’ve had a good response so far from the Homewood community but we definitely need more volunteers,” said Klehm.

To learn more about the South Suburban Humane Society, volunteering opportunities, and needed donations, visit www.southsuburbanhumane.org.

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