DERRY, N.H. — Windham’s Millstone Wildlife Center (MWC) rehabilitated 90 animals in 2015, their first year in operation. Eleven years later, that number is almost 1,500, prompting an expansion to 76 Tsienneto Road in Derry.
Frannie Greenberg, MWC’s Executive Director, says the Windham nonprofit location at 16 Millstone Road will remain a central location for the team to triage injured animals. If animals require minimal daily care, they will be transferred to the new Derry location, likely to open this fall.
MWC started when Greenberg and her husband decided to take in six raccoons a year as a part-time service. However, the state’s need was greater than they thought, so they soon quit their jobs to become full-time rehabilitators.
Primarily focusing on mammals, the duo operates the facility out of their Windham home and accepts phone calls throughout the day, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The MWC executive director says the center regularly receives calls from people not knowing what to do in specific situations, saying, “We save many, many animals by answering the call.”
The nonprofit employs unpaid college interns and volunteers to help run the facility. With MWC’s easily accessible location, popularity and social media educational outreach over the last 11 years, the operation has grown to the point where it requires more space.
MWC’s staff currently has 40 volunteers. After this new location was announced, Greenberg says many more have expressed interest in wanting to help. That will make a big difference at the new location in Derry.
“Thankfully, both my husband and I are passionate about this, so in the short term, one of us can be here [in Windham] if the other one is at the other location, making sure day-to-day operations are smoothed out,” Greenberg said.
The Derry location wasn’t originally in the center’s plans for the future, but after seeing the property’s acreage and the four buildings, the Greenbergs pushed forward to purchase the location.
MWC required and received a zoning variance to operate in a residential area. “The town of Derry [wanted] to know more about what the plans were. Once we were able to provide our plan, they were in full agreement, and we were welcomed with open arms,” says Greenberg
The new facility has well-kept buildings, but MWC must outfit the new location with cages, feeding and cleaning supplies, and freezers to hold food. The location will likely be in full operation by the fall.
MWC also wants to offer more local outreach programs once both locations are running. The nonprofit wants to go to surrounding schools, as well as other organizations that want to learn more about wildlife rehabilitation.
The MWC does not have any municipal, state or federal funding, surviving primarily through donations and fundraising (See related story).