Our History
The Founders
Carmen and Wanda, the co-founders of C & W Rustic Shelter, feel that their journey has evolved naturally over the years. They never set out with the intention establish an animal sanctuary; it wasn't a spontaneous decision like saying, "Let's start an animal sanctuary today." Carmen has a background in music education, while Wanda dedicated 25 years to the Social Security Administration in the business sector.
Carmen recalls, "In the early 80s... because we lived on a 'farm,' we were often approached to in-take stray and injured cats of all kinds. In 1985, we recognized our responsibility as pet caregivers and began the gradual process of spaying, vaccinating, and providing shelter and veterinary care for each cat." Thus, C & W Rustic Hollow Sanctuary was born. Below, you'll find a timeline detailing our organization's mission milestones.
Timeline of Rustic Hollow
2017
The Rainbow Room
(pictured right)
The Rainbow Room was built thanks to generous donations we received from sanctuary supporters. This room has been rebuilt 2x since it endured flooding in 2021. We now use this room for our 'hospice' kitties nearing their end stages, as well as kitties requiring more ongoing medical treatments.
2004-2009
Apollo's House, Sandy's Kitty Haven, & Bradley's House (all pictured left)
Apollo's House was once home to all of our FIV positive felines, but after needing numerous repairs we decided to relocate all of those immune compromised felines to Kitty Kabin. We have a few more misc. repairs to do in this building & are excited to move cats back in very soon.
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The Sandra Mcintire Building (Sandy's Kitty Haven) was built and paid for solely by Sandra in 2007. She was in the final stages of cancer and wanted her cats to have a safe home for the rest of their lives.
Bradley's House-in memory of Bradley d.Kat was built in 2010.
This building honors the memory of a special cat who was rescued from a farm by a delivery man 'named' Bradley.
1980s
The Kat Barn (left) & The Kitty Kottage (right)
Originally named, The Kat Barn, this 1913 building served as our very first 'sanctuary building'. This building has endured multiple floods, the last one as recently as 2021. This building now houses all of our Feline Leukemia Residents.
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The Kitty Kottage is the original over a century old farm house that our Co-founder Carmen grew up in. This building has since been retired as of 2025. Hopefully one day we can restore or replace with another shelter building so we can continue our mission, but for now this building houses no felines.
