NEWTOWN, Conn. (WCBS 880) — In a community scarred by grief and despair, there's a place of serene beauty and healing.
Jenny Hubbard created an animal sanctuary in Newtown, Connecticut, to honor of her 6-year-old daughter, Catherine Violet Hubbard — one of the 20 first-graders killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
"This sanctuary was created to be a place of safety and a place of kindness," said Hubbard.
Catherine loved all creatures, big and small, and in her memory, her family created the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary.
"I feel peaceful and I love coming [here] and I don't do it enough," Hubbard said. "I love coming when nobody else is here because I can just feel the stillness and the serenity of the sanctuary."
She noted that when she is there, she is often reminded of her daughter when she sees a bird or a deer "go flying through the meadows."
"I think of Catherine in whatever way... she's here," Hubbard said.
The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary Foundation is restoring 34 acres of old state farm land.
It's a haven for wild animals. They host pet adoptions. They help seniors care for their pets. The foundation wants to build a facility for farm animals and for educational programs.
"I see a little one holding a butterfly and I think, 'Wow, that there is so much hope, and it’s joy,’ and you can't help but smile," Hubbard said. "Being here physically at the sanctuary is where I’ve restored my footing and have found hope and, in the truest sense of the word, found sanctuary."
In spite of all that Hubbard has had to endure, she remains optimistic.
"This sanctuary for me has been a place that I've realized that there's more good than bad out there and that people and communities want to rally behind things that serve the greater good," she added.
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