OUR NEW HOME
Stay-A-While is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to sheltering, caring for and placing cats into life-long homes.
BUILDING THE NEW SHELTER
Our life-long dream has become a reality as we moved into our amazing new shelter on October 10, 2021. The cats and humans are loving their new surroundings! Unfortunately cost overruns due to Supply Chain issues and Covid caused us to use most of our operational funds to bring the building to completion.
Please help Stay-A-While Cat Shelter rebuild their operational funds to help continue and ensure their most important mission, to provide a state of the art cage-less, no kill shelter that provides loving, compassionate and comprehensive care for cats and kittens awaiting adoption. Become a Legacy Supporter of our new ‘state of the art’ cat shelter!
We still have rooms available for you to sponsor. Please see our Legacy Giving page!
THE GREAT MIGRATION, OCTOBER 10, 2021
It is done! Our move for 75 cats was completed in one hour!
We are very fortunate that we had more than enough volunteers for the day! Thank you to everyone who offered! You are simply the best!
Many are asking when we will be open again – We do not know the answer to that yet as it will be determined by the cats themselves. Once we feel they are comfortable in their new home, then we will be very excited to welcome everyone back!
FROM GROUNDBREAKING TO OPEN HOUSE
Groundbreaking on our new shelter was on Tuesday, July 21st! This day is so important to so many people – to many of you!
Our lifelong dream came true and there were many details that the staff meticulously planned for the preparation of the cats to move to their new home. They even color coded the rooms and corresponding cats with their carriers, so they would be taken directly to their appointed rooms based on their needs and personality.
On moving day all carriers were stacked and labeled etc., with drivers waiting to transport them to their grand destination. It worked similar to a well oiled machine with cats efficiently placed in their designated carrier and placed in a volunteers’ vehicle for transport.
As seen in the photos our cats were placed carefully in their carrier and transported to their new home by our generous volunteer drivers. Then they were taken to their specific rooms to get acquainted with their new surroundings and each other – you know how cats are. We also wanted to share some pics of how some of our young friendly felines adapted quickly checking out their new digs and their toys as well.
And finally, we celebrated with our Open House the weekend of August 20-22, 2021!
ARTICLE ARCHIVES
Our life-long dream has become a reality as we moved into our amazing new shelter on October 10, 2021. The cats and humans are loving their new surroundings!
One local organization’s milestone is the cat’s meow. Staff and volunteers of Stay-A-While Cat Shelter, joined by Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz and furry resident Josiah the cat, broke ground today for a new facility slated to open in a year or so. The future 2,800-square-feet cat shelter, being constructed at 12662 York Delta Drive in the Industrial Parkway, will serve as a dedicated cat shelter, replacing the aging residential structure at 8800 South Akins the group currently calls home. Stay-A-While was founded 37 years ago as Bide-A-Wee, Scottish for “stay-a-while”, and was renamed in 2003. There are currently 75 cats housed at Stay-A-While, which is operated by 25 volunteers and seven employees. The new facility is being funded by donations. To adopt a cat or to donate to the shelter, visit their Facebook page. To see renderings of the new building, visit the shelter’s website.
Beth Pearce, Director
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!