SOUTH BUFFALO TWP, Armstrong County — Bright Futures Farms could have a dim future if it does not find a new home.

The nonprofit organization, run by Bev Dee, is looking to relocate.

The lease on the property the organization is using at 194 Ridgeview Road will be up in May, and its owners will be needing the property for other uses.

“I am starting to get a little nervous. I have to be out in May, that's not a lot of time,” Dee said.

Dee started Bright Futures Farms more than 12 years ago when she discovered an old racehorse that was mostly likely going to be euthanized.

Horses rescued by Bright Futures Farms are those that have been abandoned because their owners can no longer care for them or the animals are meant to be sold and slaughtered.

“When I realized how many horses needed help, I decided to start a nonprofit,” Dee said.

Dee cares for 16 horses. Others that she has rescued are in foster care or have been adopted.

“We are a sanctuary and an adoption program,” Dee said.

Kristi Teklinski adopted her horse, He Got Charm, in November.

“Originally I was going to help Bev out by fostering, so the horse could be adopted, then I found out Charm was related to a horse my father owned,” Teklinski said.

“We try to get the horses adopted, but sometimes it's not always an option with the older horses,” Dee said.

Horses that have not been adopted or placed in foster care stay on the farm, where Dee and her team of volunteers take care of them.

“I have volunteers that come out on Mondays and Wednesdays. This time of year it's just two days a week,” Dee said. The volunteers help with everything from cleaning stalls to mowing the pastures.

Volunteer Connie Swartzfeger said, “I always feel better after I have been there, it gives you such pleasure.”

Swartzfeger has been volunteering at Bright Futures for the past 18 months and says she will continue to do so if Dee is able to stay in the area.

The farm is run on donations, and if those run out, some of the costs are covered by Dee herself.

“We get enough to meet the basics most of the time, but the price of grain went up, the price of hay went up and the price of fuel went up,” Dee said.

The increases are cutting into what Dee will be able to put toward a down payment on a new home for her horses.

“I am not finding anything that is in our price range,” Dee said. “Our first preference is to buy. I do not want to get into the same situation I am in now.”

With the lease almost up, Bright Futures is trying to bring in as many donations as it can.

“What we really need is grain, hay, and packaged bedding. Because we are saving for a down payment, we are really penny pinching,” Dee said.

She added that one of the things that has become very important is morning and/or evening help with chores by experienced horse people.

Dee said she is now working full-time hours, but between her job and tending the horses, “I am working from 6 a.m. til 10 p.m. weekdays.”

“I have help on Mondays and Wednesdays, but could use help Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays,” she said.

Bright Futures is in need of a farm with at least 15 acres and a barn that can hold at least 16 horses.

Any inquiries or information on farms for sale in the Butler area can be made to Bev Dee at brightfuturesfarms@gmail.com, or by phone at 724-496-4960.

“We need to find a barn and we need to find it fast. I really don't want to think about what will happen if we don't,” Dee said.