The Monroe County Humane Association is making headway on repairs after an EF-2 tornado struck its campus in February.
Executive Director Andrew Krebbs said a lot of work remains and repairs have been slow, but the association has received an outpouring of support from the community – or, in some cases, from across the country.
"We’ve received donations from people who live in Alaska and Hawaii to support our efforts,” he said. “And so, really, we've directed all of that support to help us kind of in our next phase of how does MCHA serve more animals and more of the community.”
The tornado affected the association’s campus directly, breaking windows, destroying a storage shed and throwing a shipping container onto the roof. Animals housed there were recovered safely and some were transferred to nearby facilities.
“Our vet clinic is up, operating 100 percent,” Krebbs said, “But our crisis housing, the actual animals that stay here overnight and on the weekends, we've had to really cut back on how many we can help, just because of those limitations.”
Since then, Krebbs said the campus has installed new siding, fixed its HVAC system and has completed most interior work outside of repainting. The association’s storage capabilities are still hindered by loss of space.
“We are working with different community partners, contractors that are local to Bloomington, who have all been fantastic and have responded as quickly as they can,” Krebbs said.
Krebbs said the organization is “doing great” with supplies, thanks to its partners stepping in to help right after the storm, including Humane World for Animals and Chewy.
After repairs are completed, Krebbs said the association is looking to restore capacity for animals, build a new facility for food and supply storage and expand its dog play yards.
“Going through a natural disaster is like extremely stressful, and there's a lot of anxiety and a lot of unknowns,” Krebbs said. “But we decided to use this opportunity to really reflect about MCHA’s role in our community and how much reach we have and how we can expand that.”
