Animal Protectors gets help from Habitat for Humanity Allegheny Valley for renovation

In the true spirit of community, one nonprofit has come to another one’s rescue in New Kensington.

Animal Protectors of Alle­gheny Valley was on its final lap to complete its $1.9 million renovation of a much-needed animal shelter at 730 Church St.

The multi-year project hit a snag when covid-19 arrived and work ceased as it fell in the non-essential construction category under pandemic restrictions. Construction has resumed, but the project is months behind.

Completion is expected later this year, maybe as early as late summer, said Phyllis Framel, acting president of the shelter’s board. “We’re so close. If it hadn’t been for the shutdown, we’d be in there,” she said.

So Animal Protectors’ new neighbor, Habitat for Humanity Allegheny Valley, stepped in to help the shelter get closer to the finish line, lending a hand to complete some much-needed painting and donating commercial-quality shelving in the past month.

“They are our neighbors just down the street, and I think it’s just wonderful a nonprofit is helping another nonprofit within our community,” Framel said.

The connection between the two nonprofits was serendipitous, Framel said. A few board members stopped by Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore at 225 Freeport St. in New Kensington, and the conversation started.

“We are excited to see them open their doors, and we wanted to make sure they had the resources to do what was needed,” said John Tamiggi, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Allegheny Valley.

They donated paint and provided between six and a dozen volunteers to paint some of the interior of the building, including the stairwells, which needed scaffolding that Habitat provided.

Framel estimates the labor and paint are worth more than $10,000, saving her nonprofit money and time.

Then a bonus: The shelter still needed shelving throughout the building, and Habitat received a donation of commercial-grade metal shelves from another Pittsburgh nonprofit, which collected shelving from closed banks in the region.

“What used to hold the night deposits will now store dog food and kitty litter,” Tamiggi said. “We’re definitely putting it to good use.”