Our Projects
Every project we take on moves The Cat Ranch closer to becoming a full-service rescue, adoption, and community outreach hub — one finished space at a time.
The Red Barn Project
A dedicated adoption space for The Cat Ranch — Phase One of the Adoption & Community Outreach Center
Turning an existing barn into the first public adoption space in our history · $30,000 · 90 days
Artist's rendering for illustration. The screened porch shown is a planned future addition, funded separately once the adoption room is open. Final finishes and dimensions subject to contractor bids and Charlotte County permitting.
The Barrier We Are Trying to Remove
The Cat Ranch provides permanent sanctuary to approximately 150 rescue cats in Southwest Florida. What we do not have is a dedicated room where a member of the public can sit down and meet an adoptable cat. Every space we currently use for introductions is a working room inside the house — occupied, in daily use, and never designed to receive visitors. Those spaces are also not ADA compliant, which means there are prospective adopters we cannot properly accommodate at all.
The result is that our adoption volume stays capped year-round, and we turn away the casual visitor who so often becomes the committed adopter. At roughly 150 cats, the sanctuary is at capacity, and we cannot responsibly take in another animal until one leaves for a home. Adoption is the only thing that creates room.
The Project
A structure already stands on our property: a red barn, 25 by 20 feet, sound and weather-tight, currently with a dirt floor. The Red Barn Project converts those 500 square feet into a working adoption center — the first public-facing adoption space in the sanctuary's history. Finished, it delivers three things we have never been able to offer:
What It Costs — And How You Can Help
Each component below can be sponsored individually, in full or in part. Gifts of any size move this forward.
The barn's existing dirt floor requires cleanout, grading, and leveling before any slab can be poured, and that preparation is included in the floor figure. Demolition, framing, painting, and finish labor are donated by our volunteer corps at no cost to the project, which is why $30,000 buys a finished building rather than a partial one.
Why This Is the Right First Step
The Cat Ranch is planning a permanent Adoption & Community Outreach Center. The Red Barn is not a substitute for it — it is the proving ground. It lets us open public adoption operations in 90 days rather than waiting on a multi-year build, and it produces real placement results we can carry to everyone who supports what comes next. When the permanent center opens, the barn converts to additional housing and transition space for cats moving through the sanctuary, so nothing built here goes to waste.
More Projects on the Way
Additional projects — including fencing, facility improvements, and community outreach initiatives — will be listed here as they are scoped and funded. Check back soon.