About Overview

How We Got Here

In March of 2019, a little Pekingese girl named Ginger was brought to her groomer in a garbage bag. She was so horrifically matted that she couldn’t move and had third-degree burns on her privates. Her groomer confiscated her, cleaned her up, brought her to the vet to care for her injuries, and posted her on Facebook. Despite the pain she was in, Ginger remained loving and sweet. She was 15 years old, could barely walk, and had a 4/6 heart murmur. Lynn Nixon, our founder, had been seeking an older Pekingese so jumped at the chance to take her in. She drove down to Philly and brought Ginger home.

Little did Lynn know that this was the beginning of her home turning into a sanctuary for senior and hospice Pekingese. By the end of 2019, she had started the process for incorporating The Gingerbread House and filing for federal 501(c)(3) status which was granted in February 2020.

In March of 2020, Ginger got sick and was determined to have kidney disease. It progressed rapidly and despite trying everything to save her, she died suddenly at home in Lynn’s arms on March 12. In one short year, that little girl had changed Lynn’s entire life. And thus, that day, in honor of her precious little Ginger, The Gingerbread House Sanctuary & Rescue was launched on Facebook.

Where We Are Going

Since then, The Gingerbread House has been growing rapidly and is saving tiny senior and hospice pups like Ginger. We are proud to partner with other rescues and shelters to take in these special darlings that deserve a chance to spend their remaining days being cared for and loved. No living thing should be thrown away purely because they are old or need medical care. We are on a mission to save as many of these precious souls as we can.

But it takes a village. We do not have a physical building or employees. And to date, Lynn has been running (and funding) The Gingerbread House as she builds out the infrastructure. We need volunteers and fosters, and we need to start fundraising to provide for these sweet dogs in their golden years. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations are 100% tax deductible and every dollar we receive goes directly to the care of the pups. 

We are excited about having a network of people who care about tiny seniors. When we all work together, we can move mountains. Or in this case, save lots of furry lives.

Our end goal is to have a sanctuary facility so more seniors can live in a home-like environment while receiving love and care for their remaining days. Naturally, Lynn has full intentions of designing it like a gingerbread house!

A Note from Our Founder

Thank you for visiting my website and for your interest in my pups. I am profoundly moved by the amount of people that have raised their hands to support my mission of saving tiny seniors. I have a post on Facebook from the day I brought Ginger home. It is a picture of her sleeping soundly on a furry pink blanket. She was clean and well fed and had already declared her spot as the Queen Bee of the pack (typical Peke). I had no idea how my life was about to change, and I can’t put into words how I loved this little girl with all of my heart and soul.

A year prior, I bought my lake house for my boys, Ernie and Ozzy (I got tired of renting other people’s dog-friendly lake houses for my vacations). But thanks to Ginger, I sold my condo, left my 37-year career in the financial industry, started growing my consulting business, bought my neighbor’s lake house, and launched The Gingerbread House. But now Ginger is gone, so here I am. As you can imagine, failure is not an option.

As for the pups, my heart breaks for them every single day. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. These precious babies are completely dependent on us. The lucky ones that find their way to me know they have been saved. Their eyes say it all. I owe them the best new life they can possibly have. Whether they are coming from extreme neglect or just losing their beloved family through no fault of their own. Hence, my adoption process is extremely thorough. I am adopted and my agency made a mistake. I will not make that mistake.

I chose The Gingerbread House name intentionally. Obviously after Ginger, but I also want it to evoke a heart-warming image in your mind since what follows is not cute fluffy puppies, but rather crusty old seniors. They are the ones that everyone turns away from and discards. But what if I had not taken a chance on Ginger? The Gingerbread House is the warm and fuzzy place where these crusty old seniors get transformed back into those cute fluffy muffs they once were. They may be a little slow moving and need some meds, but they will have their dignity. They will be clean, fed, pain free, and loved. Go look at what a little love and care has done for our sanctuary pups. They are all on borrowed time, but you can’t tell anymore. THIS is what this will be.

Thank you for your time and for your support,

Lynn

Testimonial

“I first met Lynn when I was looking to adopt a specific dog that was listed as special needs. I was so impressed by Lynn’s attention to detail about not only the pup but me as a potential adopter. As a former companion obedience teacher, I too heard the stories about groups that don’t provide an accurate description of the dog which should be disclosed to avoid trauma on both ends of the leash. She is so careful to be honest and candid about the pup and future care of the pup. The Gingerbread House sets the bar very high for all rescue groups. Lynn’s kindness, tenacity, humor and compassion to take the very best care of her pups is admirable and is why her success rate is so high.”

–Suzanne O.