As promised, we are delivering the newest highlights in the progress of our new shelter….

As of June 12th, we are the proud owners of a new property! Stay‑A‑While’s new address will be: 12662 York Delta Drive, North Royalton, Ohio 44133. We will keep you updated when this becomes our official mailing address.

You may view the new building plans and exterior renditions at the shelter. We hope you stop by during our business hours to peek at the current progress of our new shelter. We will be updating and posting each phase on a bulletin board located in the shelter’s Gift Shop and on our website.

We are in contract with our chosen civil engineer (Cunningham & Associates), architect (MoodyNolan) and general contractor (C & M Construction), all of which will oversee our project through completion.

Up to this point in our fundraising, we have obtained 11.7% of our goal. This percentage may seem low but we have increased our building budget to $1.5 million, upon recommendation of the architect. We are hopeful that the sponsorship options will help us reach our goal! Thank you for your continued support and all your interest with the building of our new shelter! We appreciate all of you very much!

You, our generous supporters, are what allow us to persist in our efforts to fulfill the dream of a cat-loving couple that began 38 years ago. In order to continue taking care of homeless cats, Stay-A-While needs a brand new building extremely soon! For over 24 years now, we have been putting band-aids on the cats’ dilapidated home. Unlike the many felines we save each year, this 72 year old house absolutely cannot be saved!

All the major components needed to keep our home standing are failing. The roof has been patched countless times and is officially beyond repair. This has led to raccoons settling into the ceiling for the second time in six months. They even managed to tear through part of the ceiling and were attempting to join our feline friends inside the home. This is a significant danger to the cats. New flooring is needed throughout most of the shelter and some areas will also require subfloor repairs. The heating and air conditioning unit has become incredibly inefficient due to so many years of cat urine penetrating and corroding the duct work. This has caused numerous areas of the shelter to receive insufficient heating and cooling.

I wish that was all, but the list of other repairs is quite extensive too. All these expenses are significantly increasing our yearly operating costs and eliminating our chances for a new building. In order for us to stay in business, we need to raise $1 million! Trust us, we are aware this amount is very intimidating but it will cover the cost of a new lot, engineer and architect expenses, civil engineering fees, the new building itself, and furnishings we cannot take from the current shelter. We are quickly running out of time since we do not know how much longer the cats’ home will be considered safe. We have often come to you in the past asking for assistance but now, more than ever, we are hoping you are able to help because the future of Stay-A-While depends on reaching this goal!

We have been brainstorming for over 2 years with our incredibly hard-working, passionate advisory board to finalize a plan the cats deserve. After much consideration, we feel we have reached the best possible design. This rendering was preceded by multiple drafts in a variety of sizes and layouts. This creates a home for the cats that will be more energy efficient and will allow us to separate them appropriately; more than we are currently able to do. The new shelter will be constructed with nonporous materials to eliminate destruction from urine and cleaning thus allowing sustainability. These features will significantly improve the living environment for our cats and minimize the strong odor that we have battled. Our advisory board has been in communication with the City of North Royalton and received approval to move forward with the new shelter design. The next step is fundraising.

If we could survive solely on our love for cats, we would never cease to exist because those who support us have the biggest hearts! We hope that in this time of desperation we can count on all of you to help us make Stay-A-While an even better home for the countless felines who need shelter, hope, and love! We have great confidence that together we will make this happen; we have no choice.

We will send updates throughout this entire process. The next mailing will include information on various donation levels, room sponsorship opportunities, and in-kind donations. For your convenience, all information provided in the mailings will be posted on the Stay-A-While website: www.stayawhilecatshelter.org. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either one of us.

We accept cash, checks, and PayPal donations.

Please mail cash and check donations to:

SAW New Shelter Fund

9491 Greystone Parkway Brecksville, OH  44141

Thank you in advance for your donation as it will help us continue this great and unique organization!

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Important update for all our friends!

Hello to you all. This update is in regard to the recent mailing you may have received about the fundraising status for our new shelter property and the building itself. Based on the feedback we are receiving from that letter, we must make some important clarifications for everyone.

Stay-A-While Cat Shelter’s goal for our upcoming new building and property is to provide a healthy, safe and relaxing living space as well as an environment full of enrichment for our feline friends. If you have been to our current shelter, then you know a large part of that enrichment is the many windows, porches, trees and wildlife our cats enjoy at all times. This has always been a very important part of SAW and I can assure you, this will not change with our new property or building.