CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - It has been two weeks since a U-Haul crashed into the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association. What remains is a giant hole in the building covered by tarp. And the inside where that hole sits is still a daily reminder of that chaotic day.
“Its been kind of a learning process. We are trying to see what works and what doesn’t work,” said Angie Gillenwater, Community Engagement Manager at KCHA. “We know that there’s definitely a long journey ahead of us, there’s a lot of gray area a lot of I don’t knows right now.”
In terms of what’s next, Gillenwater said the rebuilding process is expected to be a long one, with about $100,000 worth of damages and repairs. But she said since the accident they have been able to raise about $60,000 from the community.
“We’re looking at about a month of operating at half capacity, a month of having a hole in the side of he building. Hopefully once that month is up, three to four weeks once that’s up, we should be putting pieces back into the building, putting our pieces back together and rebuilding.”
And looking ahead – it’s out with the old and in with the new
“We want to keep that momentum going of getting animals out of here and getting them into homes. Like I said, we do know there is a long journey ahead. We are prepared for any type of news ahead of us, good bad great, great news. Whatever it is, we are prepared and we know that we are going to come out on top of this, possibly even stronger than we were before,” Gillenwater said.