South Florida Wildlife Center is one of the nation's highest-volume wildlife trauma hospitals. A national leader and teaching facility in wildlife veterinary medicine and rehabilitation, SFWC provides emergency rescue, veterinary treatment, and expert rehabilitative care to more than 350 wild species. Founded in October 1969, the Fort Lauderdale-based facility helps more than 10,000 injured, orphaned or imperiled animals annually, responds to wildlife conflicts, and collaborates locally and nationally on issues impacting human, environmental and animal health. Visit southfloridawildlifecenter.org, find us on Facebook or call (954) 524-4302.

South Florida Wildlife Center, is the highest-volume wildlife hospital in Florida, admits 10,000+ an

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: SFWC is committed to our core mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release wildlife into their natural habitat. We provide critical care for more than 10,000 patients each year.

Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.

Goal Two: The need for our services continues to grow in South Florida as the natural habitat for wildlife is shrinking due to development. Our focus is to expand our ability to serve based upon the need.

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Goal Three: SFWC if focused to meet the ever increasing need for service in our community. To do so, we must invest in capacity across the organization - financial, technical, operations and capital investment.

Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).

Describe an investment in leadership

SFWC encourages leadership development throughout the organization. At this time, there are opportunities to grow through technical and hands-on training. This includes leadership mentorship through our veterinary training programs, and technical ‘hands on’ experience for interns/externs. Various leadership growth opportunities lie in the areas of Education Outreach, Veterinary Animal Care, Development/Marketing and Executive Management where staff is encouraged to enhance proficiencies through training programs offered externally. The Leadership team continues to research opportunities to offer additional training, development and education for staff and interns/externs.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

• Policy Advocacy

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

The SFWC has been part of the South Florida community for more than five decades. We are a trusted and relied upon essential resource in the Tri-County region that provides critical care for injured and orphaned wildlife. We are the largest volume wildlife hospital in the state of Florida, open 365 days per year to serve more than 10,000 patients needing care each year. The SFWC provides ongoing Outreach and Education to our community on topics related to wildlife, environment and conservation. Additionally, SFWC has a robust volunteer program with approximately 300 participants each year. The volunteers are an essential part of our day-to-day operations and also serve as brand ambassadors in our community as representatives of our SFWC mission and values.

SFWC has adapted to external changes in the past year. Several of the key changes relate to the impact of the pandemic on our organization. The organization did not close to the public during the pandemic. We continued to provide service to ensure seamless delivery while adapting to new regulations and protocols necessary for safety. For example, we implemented a ‘contact-free’ process to drop off an injured, orphaned animal at our facility. We adapted our Education and Outreach programs to a virtual environment to continue our community education efforts without public contact. Through social media, virtual programming (webcasts, etc.), and online marketing efforts we maintained and were able to increase engagement with our constituents. SFWC has established itself as an independent, non-profit organization, based on a mutual separation agreement with its former partner the Humane Society of the United States. We continue to serve the Tri-County area including Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade regions. The SFWC, is the highest-volume wildlife hospital in Florida, admits between 10,000-12,000 animals each year. Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured and orphan wildlife in South Florida, and to share information about wildlife issues with the public at large. For 52 years, SFWC has been a vital resource in providing essential and unique services to our community. To that end, we also work to educate the public about the important role wild animals play in the balance of our ecosystem, and how to facilitate peaceful cohabitation as urbanization continues to encroach into wild animals’ natural habitat. Our education programs for animal control officials, police, and firefighters build the capacity of the wildlife care field in our community; we also offer training for interns, externs, students, and citizen scientists that includes hands-on experience, working side-by-side with our veterinary staff and wildlife rehabilitators.