As executive director of Orphan Angels Cat Sanctuary, Mary Grace Lacoste is dedicated to helping cats.

"We are a completely a free roam, no-kill shelter," said Lacoste. "When we bring in cats, we completely commit to them for the extension of their life."

In order to better serve the Erie community, the cat sanctuary has decided to expand. Orphan Angels has begun a $500,000 construction project on a new wellness clinic, that will allow the shelter to conduct blood tests for feline leukemia and provide spaying and neutering at a low cost.

"We're hoping the whole big idea of this, is to cut down on the number of cat population within the Erie Community." said Lacoste.

According to Lacoste, the need for these types of services is tremendous.

"There are so many cats out there in the Erie community that are just running loose," said Lacoste. "There's a lot of feral colonies or there are cats that just don't have homes and they are just reproducing and it's very, very hard to keep up on the numbers."

The sanctuary is also remodeling its free-roam adoption center.

"We're getting a remodel done on the current building so that we can beautify it but also make sure that they are safe and they are able to live outside of cages," said Lacoste. "We are going to create little pods within our shelter space."

The shelter hopes to complete construction, within the next six months.