Our History
Noah’s Ark was founded by Jama Hedgecoth, the daughter of an itinerant preacher who spent much of her childhood on the road. As a child, Hedgecoth cared for injured and unwanted animals, nursing them back to health and then finding homes for them. It ultimately caused problems for the family when she picked up stray animals during trips and tried to transport them from town to town.
The constant objections of her parents — and numerous utterances of the words “Be patient” and “Wait”- solidified Hedgecoth’s resolve to have a place where she could take care of as many unwanted or neglected animals as she liked.
Through the years, her work with animals also grew into a vision of caring for abused and neglected children. Her travels gave her ample opportunity to see countless orphans and children in dire need of someone to care for them.
“With every stray animal or lonely kid we had to leave behind, I told my parents all about my dreams again,” Hedgecoth said. “By the time I was a teenager, I was tired of the word ‘wait.’”
Hedgecoth and her husband, Charlie, opened the original Noah’s Ark in 1978 in Ellenwood. The idea for the name stemmed from the fact that an ark is a vessel of safety in the midst of danger, and Hedgecoth’s facility was built to shield children and animals from today’s floods of abuse and neglect.
When the small farm they were renting became overburdened with hundreds of unwanted and disabled animals Jama had rescued, Hedgecoth decided a bigger place was needed. By then, she and Charlie had four children, and their financial situation was unstable. Yet Hedgecoth was determined to realize her dream and put her faith in the decision she was making. That decision led her family to Locust Grove
The current facility, which opened in 1990, became a reality because of considerable prayers and a generous benefactor who prefers to remain anonymous. The site consisted of 250 acres that eventually would hold the animal rehabilitation center, a long-term residential care children‘s home, a training and administration building, natural habits for the animals and nature trails.
