Help build a place where chinchillas can have a future.
A safe place in a crisis. A loving home for life. A community ready to help.
When chinchillas need help, they need people who understand them and a place prepared to care for them. Help Global Chinchilla Alliance establish a dedicated rescue and sanctuary in Central Illinois, with a mission reaching across the country.
Property opportunity secured. Fundraising for acquisition and preparation. The rescue & sanctuary is not yet open.
Every life deserves care and understanding.GCA-supplied care photograph; not a rescue or sanctuary resident.01 / A FUTURE WORTH BUILDING
WHY NOW
The next emergency needs a prepared response.
The current Ohio situation helped us realize there is no time like the present to move this project forward. Chinchillas need a dedicated place for rescue, rehabilitation, lifelong care and education, backed by people who understand their unique needs. Now is the time to build a resource that future chinchillas and the people helping them can turn to.
THE GCA VISION
Explore the rescue & sanctuary.
Our vision
Inspired by the Valley View and Moulton cases, developed through GCA and brought into urgent focus by the Ohio R & R case. Explore our story and vision
Rescue
A separate place for quarantine, rehabilitation and preparation for vetted pet homes. See the rescue plan
Sanctuary
A lifelong home with thoughtful habitats, individual care and welfare-centered education. Explore lifelong sanctuary
Global Chinchilla Alliance
The organization behind this project, bringing education, welfare and community together. About GCA
A TANGIBLE COMMITMENT
A donor helped open the door.
Existing property. Buildings already in place.Central Illinois · The key shows planned uses for the existing buildings. Interior adaptations are planned; the garden is a future addition. Select to enlarge.
PRIORITY 1 · PROPERTY & RESCUE READINESS
$640,000 to open the door to rescue care
$20,855funding to date
3.3% funded$619,145 to go
Last funding update: September 30, 2026 @ 1815
Property $575,000 · rescue cages $30,000 · Building 3 insulation and HVAC $35,000.
Help fund Priority 1Includes the $20,000 earnest-money deposit toward the property. Updates reflect confirmed contributions reported by GCA; this is not a live payment feed.
$20,000Earnest money provided by an anonymous donor
$575,000Negotiated property purchase price
On September 19, 2026, an anonymous donor provided $20,000 in earnest money and negotiated a 90-day hold on the Illinois property at $575,000 while GCA pursues acquisition donations.
That first commitment opened a real opportunity: an existing property with buildings that can become a rescue center, lifetime sanctuary and place of learning. Your support can help turn that opportunity into a lasting home base for chinchilla welfare.
Building 1 · Lifetime Sanctuary & EducationBuilding 4 · Veterinary Care & Rehabilitation
Proposed spaces · Concept renderings. Select either image to enlarge.
Building 3 · Rescue Planned rescue capacity of up to 1,000 chinchillas.
THE SANCTUARY JOURNAL
Be here from the beginning.
The plans, the progress, and eventually, the everyday lives you help change.
24SEPTEMBER 2026 PROJECT NOTE
A moment of urgency. A future worth building.
The recent news of the R&R Chinchilla herd has brought urgency to a question at the heart of GCA’s plans: how can our community be better prepared when chinchillas need help? Our answer is a permanent center that brings specialized care, rescue coordination and public education together.
This campaign is about establishing the rescue and sanctuary for the years ahead. The property opportunity and developed campus plan give our community something concrete to work toward now: a lasting place of care, learning and support for chinchillas.
A proposed Illinois campus. A purpose that reaches far beyond it.
THE VISION / Concept rendering. Proposed spaces, not a completed facility.
01
A sanctuary to call home
The sanctuary will be a lifelong home for domesticated chinchillas who have faced neglect, abandonment or other hardship. Its purpose is to give them safety, comfort, enriching habitats and veterinary care for the rest of their lives. It is not a zoo, aquarium or amusement attraction.
02
A bridge to happy homes
A separate rescue building will support quarantine, rehabilitation and temporary care. Animals suitable for adoption will move to vetted pet homes through GCA’s rescue and rehoming program.
03
Understanding that lasts
Education will help people understand chinchillas, their history and responsible care. Visits will center on learning, never animal entertainment. The residents’ welfare comes first, including their privacy, rest and freedom to retreat from view.
The first settled-in nap. A favorite hiding place. The little habits that make each chinchilla unmistakably themselves.
Once animals enter the sanctuary’s care, this will be a place to meet them and follow their journeys through care updates, photographs and stories from the team.
Resident stories are still ahead.
No sanctuary residents are profiled yet. For now, follow the project journal as we work toward making this home possible.
A chinchilla may need a temporary place to recover, a carefully chosen pet home or a lifetime of sanctuary care. Together, we can create a place prepared for each of those paths.
Our immediate goal is to secure the property. Then we can bring the spaces to life in phases, with continuing support for the people, supplies and veterinary care that make the mission possible.
Give toward a lasting future
Help GCA move this rescue and sanctuary from a developed plan to a place that can welcome animals. To arrange a gift specifically restricted to this project, contact us; the giving link below currently supports GCA’s general mission.
Give through GCAOpens GCA’s general donation page. Workplace giving and employer matching may also be available through Benevity.
Bring your skills or supplies
Offer animal-care experience, building skills, equipment, supplies or fundraising support. Tell us what you could contribute.
Not yet. An anonymous donor provided $20,000 in earnest money and negotiated a 90-day hold with the seller at the agreed $575,000 purchase price, giving GCA time to raise the funding to acquire the property. The buildings are already in place. Opening will follow acquisition, facility preparation and the funding and approvals needed to provide care responsibly. We will share progress throughout the process.
Are the Ohio chinchillas coming here?
We do not know. The R & R situation has strengthened the urgency of this project, but this campaign is not a promise that GCA will receive those animals. We are building a lasting resource for chinchillas regardless of that placement.
Is this part of GCA?
Yes. GCA Chinchilla Rescue & Sanctuary is a planned program of Global Chinchilla Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 99-2008449). GCA will lead the project through its board, with financial oversight, a program budget and the approvals needed to operate. Contributions are handled through GCA.
Who is behind this project?
The entire Board of Directors of Global Chinchilla Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is behind this project, bringing together longstanding chinchilla-care experience and professional expertise. GCA founder, CEO and president Shahna Thomas Powell, P.E., will oversee the project through completion. She brings 20 years of engineering experience spanning construction and project management, including heavy civil infrastructure, and currently oversees a $2.3 billion infrastructure portfolio at California DOT (Caltrans). Shahna and CFO Shannon Culbertson will provide financial oversight, with the Board guiding the project and its animal-welfare mission.
