The Howell Nature Center is on track to reopen its Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic sooner than expected.
The center had closed the clinic to intakes as a cost-saving measure in October following a decrease in revenue for 2024.
Tina Bruce is the CEO of Howell Nature Center. She says since news of the center’s financial woes broke, donors stepped up.
“I cannot say how appreciative I am of the community rallying behind us. The outreach has been amazing.”
Bruce says the center had a $100,000 goal to reopen the clinic and, as of Monday, they have raised nearly $80,000.
“That funding will get us bridged through the slow time that we have here until we start seeing an uptake in revenue sources again with school groups and camps that come out, as well as just the weather will start picking back up in March.”
Bruce says the center is considering a soft reopening of the clinic over the next couple of days.
She adds the center wants to ensure it has the funds to take care of animals completely before bringing more in.
There were also several staff members who were laid off because of the center's financial troubles. Bruce says it has not been decided yet whether they can rehire those employees or open their positions back up.
