Sonoma Chicks celebrates becoming an official nonprofit with ribbon cutting

When she started Sonoma Chicks, Tania Soderman had no idea what it would become — she’s been an animal lover and collector since she was a young girl. Slowly but surely, her small farm with one chicken coop grew into a sanctuary that houses chicks, turkeys, tortoises, bunnies, goats, pigs and other animals in need of homes.

The “land of discarded chickens,” as Soderman refers to her collective of coops, is filled mainly with feathered animals who aged out of laying eggs, or look a little worse for wear. But Soderman sees their charm and complexity, which she shares with others by making them the subject of her fine art photography.

After eight years of rescuing animals as a private sanctuary, Sonoma Chicks Rescue and Sanctuary will celebrate becoming an official nonprofit with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, June 4.

While farm life is can be messy and busy, one glance at the Sonoma Chicks sanctuary and it’s obvious it was built by a photographer.

It’s unclear whether the chicken or the egg came first, but Soderman’s photography and her animals go hand in hand; the ragtag group of rescued residents that live in Soderman’s backyard inspire her photography, which in turn helps to fund the farm. She tries to take picture of the animals at least once a week, and she set up a sanctuary that would be photogenic from any angle.

It’s modeled after farms in Norway, where Soderman’s parents are from. Each chicken coop and bunny house is painted a rich barn red with white accents. She was so particular about that shade of red that once Sonoma Paint Center helped her track down the perfect hue, they started selling it as “Sonoma Chicks Red.”

She doesn’t get to take photos of the animals as often as she'd like, because manning the sanctuary is more than a fulltime job.

“I am the farmhand. I take care of this place on my own — it’s 24/7,” Soderman said. “It’s like having a toddler.”

She’s up at 6:30 a.m. each day, making her rounds and feeding everybody, cleaning coops and running the show. Some days are harder than others.

The sanctuary is located right next to a creek, and during the winter storms, she dealt with weeks of constant flooding, which brought its own onslaught of struggles. The days where she loses animals to attacks from coyotes or mountain lions are particularly hard, because Soderman knows and loves each one of her brood.

As she walked through her property, she is greeted by all sorts of residents — she knows their personalities and unique friendships. There are geese who are friends with pigs, a goose who won’t go to sleep until every last one of the chickens is in for the night and a tortoise who gets along great with everyone.

Her favorite days are when she gets to socialize with and photograph the animals, combining her two passions — the days that make it all worth it.

“I obviously absolutely love this,“ Soderman said. ”I breathe it.“

Before moving to Sonoma from San Francisco and realizing her farm fresh dreams, Soderman spent a year in Madrid with her family, and started to really think about what she wanted to do with her time as her young kids grew up. She had worked as a sought after photographer, doing photoshoots for weddings, real estate and commercial clients, but she missed the days when she was surrounded by animals. While she grew up in Norway, much of her childhood was spent in Africa, where she made friends with a slew of creatures, big and small.

Before she really conceptualized what having farm or rescue would look like, she began collecting red mugs, cups and buckets from around Madrid. Those items, which represent the start of it all for her, are now hung and scattered around the sanctuary.

As the rescue grew, nonprofit status became an obvious next step. Though she was private, she kept taking in more animals. She’d get inquiries from Broccos Old Barn when somebody brought in a critter that nobody else could take, and calls after people saw her farm on Instagram or read about her in the Index-Tribune. While it’s her passion, it’s also become a full-time job.

After putting in the application roughly 12 months ago, it was a slow grind through the nonprofit process. She was so busy with her animals, the paperwork took a back seat. But she kept at it, because becoming a nonprofit was essential for the animals’ future.

Soderman currently pays for the animal’s feed by renting out an Airbnb on the property, and sells greeting cards around town that feature her fanciful photos of chicks and geese. She has two part-time volunteers who help out, but she still does most of the work, and pays for it, on her own. By becoming a legitimate nonprofit, she hopes to attract more donations and more volunteers.

She also believes it will legitimize the organization in the eyes of the local nonprofit community, which is important for building partnerships. Families of people near their end of life have reached out to Soderman, asking if they can bring an ill or elderly family member out to the farm to visit with the animals. She’d like to make that service more accessible to groups in Sonoma who might benefit from animal therapy, and hopes that her new nonprofit status will help with that outreach.

“I went nonprofit to be able to get more volunteers and be recognized in the community to help the people I want to help,” Soderman said. “I want it to be part of the whole community.”

In terms of volunteers, she loves working with retired people in the community who can give around four hours of their time per week to come and socialize with the animals, help with gardening and keep the place clean.

For more information on how to support or donate to Sonoma Chicks, visit its website at sonomachicksrescueandsanctuary.org. Its first fundraising event will take place at the end of August. For updates and information, sign up to be a member and receive alerts on the website.

You can reach Staff Writer Rebecca Wolff at rebecca.wolff@sonomanews.com. On Twitter @bexwolff.