The Carlson family spent a Saturday morning last month at Reach Rescue cuddling a puppy named Ruby.
The Mundelein family said they immediately felt a connection with the four-month-old beagle mix and adopted her that day.
“We were looking to expand our family, and wanted a dog,” Elaine Carlson said.
Reach Rescue is a nonprofit, no-kill rescue organization that will take in any dog or cat, no matter their condition. Reach also has a resale shop named Whiskers and Wags, 1126 W. Maple Ave., which is used to raise money for the adoption center and its rescue efforts.
In 2011, Cindy Geers, Patty Bianco, Suzan Solin, Susan Lucas and Sue Mennie got together to begin developing a plan for the organization.
“We started out with a specific concept in mind, and having been in rescue for a long time we could see that there was a definite need for a different kind of concept,” said Geers, who now serves as the group’s executive director.
In the course of development, the organization’s founders knew that they wanted to create a combined resale shop and adoption center.
Everything in the shop is donated and gently used, and is priced to sell quickly, organizers said.
The shop will pick up items that people wish to donate and will even deliver items that are purchased.
Most of the animals that come to the rescue arrive from southern Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky. The group says they rely heavily on volunteers for rescue efforts.
After the rescued animals are given necessary shots and other care, they are taken to foster families. When planning how Reach Rescue would operate, the founders did not want to kennel or cage their dogs, instead they wanted them living with families in homes so they could learn more about the animal, Geers said.
Amanda Dziekanski, the foster director at Reach, has personally fostered over 200 animals and has adopted a dog through the organization.
“You get so many rewards out of working with these animals and just seeing them go from a scared little helpless dog into this happy-go-lucky dog is amazing,” Dziekanski said.
Every Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. foster families bring the animals to the adoption center, which is located next to the resale shop. Families who wish to adopt must fill out an application and submit three non-family references and one vet reference. Each dog that needs a home can be viewed on the group’s website or on their Facebook page.
The dogs at Reach Rescue get adopted, on average, within 17 days of being at Reach, according to the organization. The group averages 350 adoptions a year and since opening five years has rescued about 1,400 dogs, according to the organization.
Four years ago, the Hempel family came to adopt their dog Chewy. A year later, the family came back and adopted a second dog.
“It is a family,” Greg Hempel of Mundelein said. “They are incredible people, they embraced us, guided us in the right direction with how to approach adopting and educated us.”
On June 4, Avery Refaa, 12, brought in dog food, toys, treats and other items to donate to Reach. She celebrated her birthday recently and instead of getting presents for herself, she said she bought items to donate to the rescue group.
“I brought this stuff in because I love dogs and thought they would want new toys,” she said.
For more information about Reach Rescue go to reachrescue.org
Alyssa Groh is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
