MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A psychologist is returning home to northern Iowa to pursue her lifetime goal of operating an animal sanctuary in honor of her mother. The Globe Gazette reports that Judy Siems has started the Glady Mae Animal Sanctuary near Mason City and Burchinal. She says the nonprofit will give cats and dogs at risk of euthanasia a safe home. Siems says she promised her mother before she died that she’d open the animal sanctuary. She’d considered building the facility in Minnesota where she’d been living for 45 years, but realized the perfect place was in her childhood hometown.

Siems bought the 10-acre property in June. The organization is repairing four barns on the property to build kennels, runs and a play area. Siems also hopes to build a small medical building for an on-site veterinarian.