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Murphy Levesque is a high school senior in Connecticut. She co-founded Hidden Gem Animal Rescue in 2020, when she was 11 years old.

It started with a one-eyed cat named One-Eye at the barn where Murphy took horseback riding lessons. One-Eye was two years old, missing an eye, and on her third litter of kittens. 

Murphy and her riding trainer Logan trapped the kittens, got them veterinary care, and found them all homes.

That was the spark. They kept going.

Today, Hidden Gem Animal Rescue is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit operating across Connecticut and the Northeast, rescuing dogs and cats, running on a network of foster families, and taking cases from as far as Texas and North Carolina. 

Since Murphy started working with WordPress.com around three years ago, the rescue has helped over 100 animals, roughly doubling their previous pace.

What the website changed

Before the website, Hidden Gem had a presence on Instagram and Facebook, but no central place to send people. Her website, developed by the Automattic Special Projects team and hosted on WordPress.com changed that.

I honestly don’t know what my website would look like without you guys. It just looks so incredible.

Anyone who sees a post and wants to learn more can follow the link, understand how the rescue works, and take action right there. Whether that means applying to foster, filling out an adoption application, or making a donation.

It really just became easier for people. And it’s always better when it’s easier for people because they’re more likely to actually take their time to look at it.

Donations in particular became more seamless. The website added a proper donation platform alongside Venmo, giving supporters more ways to give and making the rescue look more like the legitimate organization it had become.

The website makes it look more professional. And people can look at all the cute animals and think, oh, this is something I want to donate to.

It’s been really seamless. I’ve really been able to figure it out and make the updates I want to make.

Murphy also used Blaze Ads to run advertisements for their available animals, bringing in a new wave of traffic and visibility for the rescue.

What’s next for Hidden Gem Animal Rescue 

Murphy is already thinking about what comes next for the rescue. 

The goal is to find a physical location, keep building the rescue’s profile and systems, and make the whole experience easier for everyone involved — volunteers, fosters, and adopters.

The website will be central to all of it.

It gains traction and lets people interact with us. It really helps us build our image.

Your story deserves a home, too

Murphy runs a nonprofit, manages social media, and updates a website while finishing high school. 

WordPress.com gave her a professional platform she could grow into, with the tools to manage it as the project evolved.

Whether you’re just getting started or ready to take things to the next level, WordPress.com gives you everything you need to build a site that works as hard as you do.