WERC has outgrown its current site
Published in the May 11-25, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Joy Joyner
Photo courtesy WERC
Joy Joyner, president of the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center Board of Directors, and Luna.
When I moved to Mountain View from rural southern Ohio, I was in for a shock. All I could see from our tiny apartment were more apartments and strip malls with a distant view of mountains in between the buildings. I was miserable. One weekend, my husband suggested we make the drive down to Morgan Hill so I could meet his grandparents. I was happy to get out of the urban sprawl and see some new sights.
As we crawled down U.S. 101 and left the southern edge of San Jose, the valley opened up and my eyes widened. The landscape reminded me so much of home. We hopped off the freeway and cruised back to Oak Glen. I fell in love with Morgan Hill! We promptly moved here.
That was 15 years ago.
In my eagerness to get to know my new home, I attended the Taste of Morgan Hill where a booth with the most beautiful owls, hawks and snakes grabbed my attention. Fatefully, I had discovered Sue Howell and the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, aka WERC.
Howell’s devotion to animals inspired her to start the unique program set in the South Valley. While admiring the animals, I discovered that they were all native to this area. And with this chance meeting, I began my journey to learn about the native wildlife in the Santa Clara Valley. When my son was old enough, I decided to do some volunteer work. I thought of WERC immediately. Having a small part in helping undo some of the damage sustained by our most vulnerable wildlife has been a dream of mine since I was a child.
My mom, who had recently moved to Morgan Hill, met Sue Howell at the Centennial Senior Center. It was an easy decision for the both of us to become WERC volunteers. That was five years ago.
Fast forward to 2016. I am currently the president of the board of directors at WERC. In the five years that I have been with the organization, I have seen the need for its services outgrow our capacity. Since its inception, WERC has existed at our founder’s home on her property. We are now left with the colossal task of relocation. WERC needs a piece of property and funding to expand and become the world-class center that the South Valley needs.
Our current model takes in rehabilitation patients, and goes out to area schools for educational programs to teach our youth the importance of native wildlife in our local environment.
We struggle in a tiny clinic to offer acute medical care to injured and orphaned wildlife. To paint a better picture, when we have three volunteers and a large bird of prey in the same close quarters, you become very intimately acquainted with everyone in the room.
But even with this restricted space, we’ve been able to do amazing things in our nearly 30-year history. But we can do more. We can build a new facility which would include an on-site educational center where children and the public can come to learn from exhibits that feature our non-releasable “Educational Ambassadors.”
We can also build a new clinic, with room to give care to more patients on site, rather than having to provide stressful transport of an injured animal to a veterinary clinic. We can be a shining jewel in the crown of Morgan Hill.
But we can’t do it without your help. The Morgan Hill community has been WERC’s biggest supporter through the years. As we ready ourselves for this next step, I remain hopeful that you will continue to support us. For without you, we cannot do what we do.
Joy Joyner is president of the board for WERC. She wrote this column for Morgan Hill Life. She can be reached by emailing her at [email protected].
