Building Hope, Expanding our Reach…
Leave a lasting legacy in support of animal rescue!
We need our community supporters now more than ever. For interest in corporate or private sponsorships and donations, please email fundraising@reachrescue.org.
This includes sponsorships and donations in exchange for naming rights in various locations around the new building.
Ever since Reach Rescue started back in 2011, we have grown and grown. We were proud to have rescued and found homes for around 60 dogs that year. Now, we have the resources and volunteers to find homes for that many in just two months or less. During our weekly adoption events at the rescue, our space which once seemed abundant now overflows with people and dogs. We are simply bursting at the seams, and every inch is being utilized. It was always important to us that we stayed in Mundelein, where it all started. In the fall of 2021, Reach Rescue officially closed on three acres of land off of Route 45 in Mundelein that will eventually become our permanent home. The land had three residential structures on it which were demolished in early November of 2024. Our team is currently working on the extensive permitting processes, all kinds of plans and pre-construction to-do’s, and it’s quite slow sometimes, but progress is progress!
Our future site will include an adoption facility that further accommodates our growing needs, intake garage, revamped medical room, outdoor exercise areas, training space, community pet food pantry and more — but we need all the support we can get.
January, 2026
Our new home for Reach Rescue is only getting closer to reality. It’s been a long journey through plans, permits, and paperwork (turns out, “sit” and “stay” are easier to teach than “permit submission”), but we’re making solid progress. We want to extend a huge thank you to the many volunteers constantly working to make this happen!
Here’s what’s new:
Tree Work: The Village of Mundelein approved our Tree Removal Permit! We’ve started clearing the trees needed for the new building, parking lot, and outdoor dog park — while saving as many of our beautiful trees as we can.
Site Prep: The Village also gave us the green light to begin site preparation and grading. Once surveyors mark the area, you’ll see some serious dirt moving.
Sewer & Water: We worked with Lake County Public Works to finalize the sewer plans and simplify things (less red tape, more tail wags). We also got fresh feedback from IDOT on running utilities under US-45, and everything’s lining up.
What You’ll See Next: Survey flags, silt fences, and lots of action! Please remember — it’s now an active construction zone. For everyone’s safety, resist the urge to swing by for a peek (we know, it’s exciting!).
How You Can Help: With bulldozers and backhoes come big bills. Every bit of support brings us closer to opening the doors of our future rescue — a place that will save and change countless lives. If you can, please chip in to our Building Hope Fund today.
Thank you for being part of this journey. The dogs may not understand “permit review cycles,” but they sure know how to say thank you — with wagging tails and happy hearts.
August 2, 2025
We reviewed our plans with the Village of Mundelein in a meeting in April and talked through our plans with them.
We submitted our plans to Lake County Public Works and got detailed feedback on the required sanitary connections.
We received feedback from IDOT on the plans involving the entrance, right of way, and augering under US45 to get to the water and sewer lines.
Our civil engineering firm is working on the revisions to the design based on the feedback so we can review and resubmit.
We met with the architect and construction firm to work through some detailed revisions as we get closer to making construction a reality and incorporating some of the items that have been donated already for the new location.
We are working toward getting the civil engineering work far enough along that we can begin site preparation and grading.
We submitted a sign permit and are approved to post a "coming soon" sign at the entrance of the new location, but need some brush clearing to make room.
February 10, 2025
Civil Engineering for the utilities and drainage has been completed and sent to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) permit for the entry on Route 45 as well as the utilities that need to go under the road.
Other engineering plans for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) are well underway and hopefully nearing completion.
Our architect is working with a contractor on details for structural engineering and trusses.
We're hoping to get a complete set of plans in front of the village in the next few weeks!
November 6, 2024
We are continuing #BuildingHope for animals in need with our biggest update yet! The two unusable structures on our property were recently demolished to start making way for bigger and better things, and we are still desperately fundraising to fully fund our new facility!
This project will be #ExpandingOurReach by allowing us to save THREE times as many homeless animals with the space and resources we have planned. We are eagerly awaiting #GivingTuesday this year (27 days - but who's counting) in hopes you will consider Reach Rescue and foster dogs current and future who will get a second chance because of this building. Exciting things are happening!
March 30, 2024
Progress continues on the new Reach Rescue property and future adoption center! On Wednesday, we met with the building department at the Village of Mundelein to update them on our plans and progress.
They were happy to hear that we were continuing to move forward with the project and gave us a lot of advice; from making sure that our architectural plans are up to the latest village code standards, to demystifying the many permits we'll need to deal with removing dead trees, closing the well and septic, and beginning demolition of the old buildings that have to go to make room for our awesome new facility. There is a ton of work ahead of us to get there, but it's exciting to be moving forward! Reach Rescue Directors Bill (pictured) and Barrett represented Reach at the meeting. We will have MANY more updates coming soon, so stay tuned!
