Who We Are
A farm sanctuary in Wisconsin built on a single belief: that every life — every single one — deserves to be treated as precious.
Built on a refusal
to look away
SoulSpace didn't begin with a strategic plan or a mission statement. It began with a phone call, a Craigslist listing, and a willingness to say yes when no one else would.
On the day George and Frederick were rescued from a backyard situation where lives were priced by the pound, Kara drove them to safety — then turned around and drove again, this time to a small farm in Minnesota, to bring home a pig named Oliver. Three animals. One day. An organization born not from strategy, but from the simple refusal to leave someone behind.
"They were not rescued into an organization — they are the reason it exists."
What followed that first day grew slowly and honestly: a goat escaping a gender reveal party and becoming the first of many. A pig learning to walk again. A lamb pair raised on bottles by hand. A cow who quietly changed every life that came close enough to sit with her.
Today, more than 80 Residents call SoulSpace home. Not because their stories are extraordinary — but because every animal deserves the chance to have one.
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Three words. One commitment.
Everything at SoulSpace flows from these three pillars. They aren't just a tagline — they describe exactly what we do, in the order we do it.
Rescue
Answering the call when animals have nowhere else to go — from Craigslist listings to roadside arrivals, vet clinic buckets to university trucks. We show up. We say yes. We bring them home.
Rehabilitate
Rescue is just the beginning. The real work is what comes after — re-teaching a pig how to walk, sitting on a barn floor with a terrified goat, offering safety consistently until fear finally loosens its grip.
Educate
Every tour, every ambassador visit to a nursing home, every story shared — it's all education. Teaching our community to see farm animals not as commodities, but as individuals with names, stories, and lives that matter.
"We envision a world where compassion is not the exception, but the way we live. A world where animals are seen as beings in their own right. A world where we can slow down, breathe deeply, reconnect, and remember what truly matters."
"SoulSpace Sanctuary envisions a future where animal rescue, community, education, healing, and meaningful connection exist side by side — creating a place where all beings are safe to exhale, belong, and heal together."
SoulSpace Farm Sanctuary · New Richmond, Wisconsin
Small sanctuary.
Immeasurable impact.
The values that guide
every single day
These aren't values we invented. They're values we learned — from the animals who arrived broken and found their footing, from the humans who showed up and stayed, and from the work itself.
Every animal is someone
Not a number. Not a product. Not "livestock." A being with a name, a personality, and a life that matters — fully and without condition.
Trust is earned, never assumed
Safety is offered consistently. Closeness comes on the animal's timeline — not ours. We wait. We stay. We never rush what needs time to grow.
The loving thing is the right thing
Even when it's hard. Even when the outcome isn't what we hoped for. Even when staying means facing the hardest moments — the loving thing is always the right thing.
Rescue is just the beginning
The work doesn't end when an animal arrives safely. It starts there. Rehabilitation — physical, emotional, behavioral — is patient, ongoing, and profoundly worthwhile.
Community changes everything
SoulSpace exists because people showed up — donors, volunteers, visitors, advocates. Compassion is a collective practice, and every person who shows up makes this possible.
Connection heals — in both directions
The animals heal here. But something else happens too. People sit with Stella and remember what stillness feels like. The sanctuary gives as much as it receives.
Meet the team
SoulSpace is powered by people who show up — not because it's easy, but because it matters. Our directors, animal care team, volunteers, and instructors are the reason this place exists and keeps growing.
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Kara founded SoulSpace not with a plan, but with a phone call — and the willingness to say yes when no one else would. What began on a single day with three rescued pigs has grown into a home for 80+ Residents and a community built on compassion. She shows up for the animals however they need her: sleeping on a barn floor with a traumatized goat, intervening in Craigslist listings, making the hardest decisions with love and unflinching care. She leads SoulSpace with the same belief that guides everything here — the loving thing is always the right thing.
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Stephanie has been part of SoulSpace for about eight years. Vegan for years (and vegetarian before that), she went looking for a place to photograph farm animals — but hated the thought of photographing animals destined for slaughter. So she Googled "farms where animals don't die," discovered farm sanctuaries, and eventually found one that had opened about an hour from her home in Minneapolis. She visited, returned to film footage for a music video with her band, and soon began volunteering — every other week, then every week. She became a board member, and then Kara asked her to serve as Co-Executive Director. You'll find her at SoulSpace every Saturday for daily chores; she organizes monthly fundraising events and is a regular photo and video contributor for social media. A singer-songwriter in the band Mere Kats, she also practices aerial arts and lives in Minneapolis with her husband Paul, three cats, and ten bunnies.
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Mitchell believes in hard work, building things that last, and giving back. A St. Croix County local, he balances a day job in manufacturing with his passion for fitness, the outdoors, and the farm. Above everything, his greatest joy is being a dad to his son, Jaxon — teaching him the value of family, a strong work ethic, and compassion. Alongside his fiancée Kara Breci, Mitchell co-runs SoulSpace on their historic 160-year-old farm, handling everything from heavy machinery and major land projects to the daily maintenance and mechanics that keep the property running. Driven by gratitude and faith, he's proud to call New Richmond home and to be part of a place built on compassion and hard work.
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Jodi first heard of SoulSpace in 2019 while searching for the chance to volunteer with animals. With no prior farm animal experience, she found her attachment to them growing quickly as she came to know their amazing personalities. Now retired from a career in nursing, she's grateful to have even more time to be part of a place where animals can live out their lives safe and loved.
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Astrid is one of the newest members of the SoulSpace animal care team, but her farm sanctuary obsession began six years ago — off-grid on the southernmost point of the Hawaiian Islands, where she spent four months at Big Island Farm Sanctuary during Covid. That's where she went vegan and fell in love with goats, sheep, cows, pigs (feral ones too), ducks, chickens, turkeys, donkeys, horses, llamas — and now peacocks too. A recovering lawyer, she calls SoulSpace her happiest place and feels it when she misses her weekly farm critter fix. At home in Minneapolis she has a great big dog, a cat, and three ducks. When she's not at the farm, she's racing sailboats on White Bear Lake, coaching a high school Mock Trial team, or gardening — and around the sanctuary she likes to think of herself as a bird whisperer, especially with a crazy little rooster named Bailey.
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Nicki is a transplant from Spring Farm Sanctuary, where she worked and volunteered from 2020. When the last of their animals had moved on, she and Astrid came to SoulSpace — both to heal and to give their time and energy to new animal friends. She's deeply thankful for Kara's hard work and grateful to be part of a team that understands the preciousness of the lives in their care. Her motto: don't eat the Homies.
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Kim has been volunteering at SoulSpace for the past six years, and the sanctuary holds a huge place in her heart. She brings more than 30 years of experience in childcare as a preschool teacher — a gift for patience, gentleness, and meeting others right where they are that carries beautifully into life among the Residents.
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Keith and Katy are the backbone of SoulSpace's volunteer community. They welcome new volunteers, match people to meaningful roles, and make sure that every person who shows up — whether for a Sunday tour or a weekly shift — feels genuinely at home.
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Al and Judy have been lovers of nature and animals their entire lives — a shared passion that began at a campground on a lake in southwestern Minnesota, where they met and started their life together. They first connected with SoulSpace when helping friends whose daughter requested that a little brown piglet named Oliver be rescued as a birthday present. That single act of compassion opened a door that never fully closed.
After that experience, Al and Judy approached Kara about bringing two draft horses — Terry and Tony — from Dodge Nature Center to SoulSpace for their retirement. They didn't just make the introduction. They funded facility upgrades, managed the transition, and have been showing up for the horses — and for the sanctuary — ever since. On any given week, you'll find them cleaning stalls, filling troughs, and combing burrs from two very content draft horses who are finally home.
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Mitch captures and shares the everyday magic of life at SoulSpace — the moments that remind thousands of followers why this work matters. Through photography, storytelling, and social media, he brings the Residents' lives to people who may never have thought of a farm animal as an individual.
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Matt began his yoga journey after witnessing its power at a meditation retreat in rural Wisconsin. He fell in love immediately, and after two years of intensive practice completed teacher training at Studio One Yoga in Stillwater, Minnesota. He practices and teaches mainly in the Vinyasa tradition, with training across gentle, hatha, yin, hot, and power flow. A practitioner of Buddhism for nearly two decades, he brings extensive experience leading mindfulness meditation. Matt lives and works in River Falls, Wisconsin, with his dogs — and when he's not in the studio, you'll find him on his meditation cushion or in the basement making pottery.
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Brynn leads SoulSpace's youth programming, including our Girl Scout partnerships — creating educational, hands-on experiences that introduce young visitors to the Residents and the values of compassion and care that guide the sanctuary. Full bio coming soon.
Be part of the story.
Whether you visit on a Sunday, make a donation, or show up to volunteer — every person who chooses SoulSpace helps write the next chapter for these Residents.