Our mission
Rescue, rehabilitate, and release raccoons harmed by environmental pressure and human activity, and advance humane, evidence-based wildlife practice across the valley.
A barn, a hotline, and eleven years of raccoons
Foggy Valley Animal Rescue started in 2015 when Mara Chen converted her family's barn into a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center for one species that nobody else in the valley would take. Today we run a clinic, a field response team, three habitat corridors, and an education program, all still for raccoons.
Why raccoons
Raccoons are the most common wild mammal our neighbors meet, and the one most likely to end up hurt by roads, fencing, chimneys, and wildfire. General wildlife centers are stretched thin. A single-species center can do the job properly.
Our vision
A Foggy Valley where every raccoon has protected habitat to return to, expert care when it needs it, and neighbors who know how to share space with it.
How we work
Calm handling and minimal sedation. Small cohorts so animals learn from each other. Six weeks of camera monitoring after every release. Numbers we publish and let someone else check.
How we got here
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2015
The barn becomes a clinic
Mara Chen receives her rehabilitation permit and admits the first raccoon, a juvenile hit on Mossy Creek Road, in April.
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2018
The hotline goes live
Volunteer dispatchers begin answering a single valley-wide number. Calls triple within a year.
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2021
First habitat agreements
Conservation agreements with two land trusts secure 40 acres of release habitat along Mossy Creek.
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2024
The learning lab opens
A classroom on campus hosts school field trips and volunteer training. 126 raccoons admitted, the most in a year to that point.
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2025
Ten years, and a bigger team
Monthly giving launches, a unified case log replaces paper files, and a capital campaign raises $131,400 for a proper clinic. 158 raccoons admitted.
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2026
Clinic wing and 100 acres
The clinic wing opens in July with imaging and surgery on site. In September, protected habitat passes 100 acres.
Staff
Five full-time staff, 24 certified rehabilitators on staff or contract, and the volunteers who make the rest possible.
Mara Chen
Founder and Executive Director
Certified wildlife rehabilitator with 17 years in mammal care. Still takes a hotline shift every other Sunday night.
Dr. Luis Ortega
Veterinary Director
Wildlife veterinarian specializing in trauma recovery and zoonotic disease prevention. Led the design of the 2026 clinic wing.
Priya Raman
Clinic Manager
Joined in January 2026 from a small-animal hospital in Eugene. Runs intake, medical records, and the isolation ward.
Devon Hale
Field Response Lead
Coordinates dispatch and the capture team. Responsible for cutting median response time from 24 hours to 15 since 2024.
Nia Gallagher
Volunteer and Community Coordinator
Designed the three-tier volunteer training pathway and runs every school visit and coexistence workshop.
Our volunteers
384 active as of September 2026
Drivers, dispatchers, animal care crews, den-box builders, docents, and the people who fold newsletters. Join them.
Board of directors
Seven volunteer directors, elected to three-year terms. The board meets six times a year and publishes minutes on request.
- Helen Okafor, ChairRetired large-animal veterinarian. Board member since 2017.
- Sam Whitfield, TreasurerCPA, Whitfield Accounting. Chairs the finance and audit committee.
- Rosa Delgado, SecretaryScience teacher, Mossy Creek Middle School.
- Jordan LeeStewardship director, Valley Conservancy.
- Tomás VegaOwner, Mossy Creek Hardware. Leads the Giving Tuesday match.
- Dr. Amara SinghPublic health physician. Advises on zoonotic disease protocols.
- Ken YamamotoRetired chief, Foggy Valley Fire District. Joined 2025.
Accountability
We ask people for money, so we show them where it goes.
501(c)(3) nonprofit (fictional)
EIN 00-0000000 is a placeholder. Oregon wildlife rehabilitation permit held continuously since 2015.
75 cents of every dollar to programs
In 2025, 75% of spending went to rescue, clinical care, habitat, and education. Fundraising and administration were 12.5% each.
Independently reviewed
Harper & Lowe CPAs completed a financial review of 2025 with no findings. Form 990 filed May 2026.
Outcomes checked by outsiders
The Cascadia Wildlife Care Alliance validated our 2025 release rate of 94% against case records in February 2026.
Partners
- Valley Conservancy (habitat corridors and land agreements)
- Foggy Valley Fire District (wildfire response coordination)
- Cascadia Wildlife Care Alliance (outcome review and training)
- Mossy Creek Veterinary Hospital (surgical backup and after-hours imaging)
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (permits and disease surveillance)
- Mossy Creek, Riverbend, and Alder school districts (field lab program)
- Mossy Creek Hardware (den-box materials and the Giving Tuesday match)
- Riverbend Land Trust (Riverbend East lease)
- Pacific Northwest Wildlife Fund (clinic capital grant)