The mother of a 6-year-old girl killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 is building a $10 million education center and veterinary intake facility at a sanctuary in Newtown named after her daughter, Catherine Violet Hubbard.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be starting our construction efforts,鈥� said Jenny Hubbard, Catherine鈥檚 mother and the nonprofit鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淚f the grace and the love that she had for animals could be something that could be encountered by other people, other kids, there was no other option than building a sanctuary.鈥�
The spans 34 acres of nature preserve, with a native meadow habitat for the monarch butterfly and raised garden beds that yield 3,000 pounds of produce annually for food-insecure families.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be the first in 海角换妻 and in the New York metro area that is a Living Building site,鈥� Hubbard said.
A Living Building is certified for sustainability by the . The Institute as regenerative buildings that connect occupants to light, air, food, nature and community; are self-sufficient and remain within the resource limits of their site; and create a positive impact on the human and natural systems that interact with them.
鈥淗aving those facilities will allow us to grow our educational outreach tenfold,鈥� Hubbard said.
The center is part of the Newtown schools鈥� K-6 curriculum. Also in the works are on-site programs for children, a learning barn and a library.
鈥淔or me, personally, to be able to start a project that not only honors Catherine鈥檚 legacy and her love, but also has made as significant an impact on the communities that we serve 鈥� and is becoming known as a model for how we teach compassion, how we build empathy 鈥� makes me more certain that my path to healing was in focusing forward and honoring Catherine鈥檚 love,鈥� Hubbard said.
