Second Chances:Building Hope for Orphaned Raccoons

I am happy to announce that Oaken Acres has been able to move forward with plans to construct a dedicated raccoon building onsite!  Too many times, OA is the only place for orphaned raccoons. None of the large centers in northern Illinois will admit orphaned raccoons and, if they do, there are strict limitations on their size which eliminates any neonates.  

Construction of this new building began in August 2025 with the teardown of the old center.  The foundation of this building was 80+ years old, damaged and allowed mice, weasels, and other critters to enter, endangering the health and safety of our patients and causing damage to the interior. This building has served us well and we are sad to see it go, but we look forward to a new, more efficient space, and better equipped for our raccoon patients. 

It will include three quarantine rooms*, a separate food prep area, and caging with the ability to care for raccoons from intake until they are moved to outdoor caging.  This will free up a room in the main center to allow us to expand and improve the care of our smaller mammals - squirrels, opossums and ground squirrels.  It will also decrease the potential spread of disease amongst susceptible species, and diminish congestion, odor, and noise within the building.

Rough estimate of cost for this is $300K. We are still about $50,000 short of our goal and will be soliciting additional donations for this project on GIVING TUESDAY 2025 throught GlobalGiving.

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