Down a gravel road called No Name Lane off Immokalee Road sits Purradise Gardens, a one-of-a-kind sanctuary in Naples for cats living on the streets of Collier County.

Visitors arriving at the refuge see several structures with screened-in decks and porches, connected outside near the rooflines by a series of cleverly designed screen tunnels that allow the feline residents to prowl safely between areas.

Looking up at the tunnels, visitors are likely to see cats of all colors, ages and sizes walking or lounging, gazing curiously down at the new arrivals to the sanctuary on more than 5 acres that offers a place where they can live in safety and comfort while awaiting adoption. Some cats, deemed too feral for adoption, become “lifers,” guaranteed a home for as long as they live.

During a mid-May visit, Purradise Gardens Executive Director Megan Sorbara provided a tour of the refuge that is currently home to about 260 cats, most of whom are available for adoption, and all of whom seem to have found a bit of heaven on earth after lives spent trying to survive after being lost, dumped or born in the wild.

Sorbara, as is the case for everyone involved at the nonprofit shelter, serves in a volunteer capacity, with no pay for a job that is decidedly more than full-time.

In addition to caring for the cats onsite, Sorbara and her team of about 40 volunteers — which swells to about 100 during season — are involved in feeding colonies of hundreds of feral or “community” cats every night, 365 days a year, in an industrial park in Naples off Airport Road.

Sorbara moved to Naples from New Jersey in 2008 after a career in the restaurant business and became involved as a volunteer with what was then the Collier Community Cat Coalition, focused primarily on a trap/neuter/release program designed to help the hundreds, if not thousands, of feral cats in Collier County.

She became involved with the organization’s robust trap/neuter/release program, but said she quickly became interested in expanding into sheltering and adoptions.

“As part of TNR we kept finding adoptable cats and kittens and we just couldn’t put them back,” Sorbara said. “My background is culinary, but I was just a cat lover and had to do something because there’s just an overwhelming need here. They’re multiplying all year.”

The first shelter Sorbara helped set up was in a barn stall at a horse farm on County Road 951. Organizers then moved it several times before renting the current property on No Name Lane four years ago.

The property has a rural feel and consists of five individual houses, including one that is used as a medical building where the cats are housed when they first arrive. With help from Harborside Animal Clinic on Davis Boulevard in Naples, organizers have all cats arriving at the sanctuary spayed or neutered, if they aren’t already, and also get microchipped. They are vaccinated and tested for FIV and feline leukemia.

“We have been with them [Harborside] for about 15 years, and they are great,” Sorbara said. “If we have an emergency, they will squeeze us in, and they give us discounted vetting to help get the animals what they need. They have donated a microscope and have donated food and vet time; they have done a lot over the years, and we would be in a bind without them.”

When the cats are fully vetted, those deemed adoptable are ready to find forever homes, either through the Purradise Gardens adoption events held every Saturday and Sunday at PetSmart on Tarpon Bay Boulevard or by appointment at the cat sanctuary.

Megan Sorbara, director of Purradise Gardens, with cats Sundae Swirl and Dahlia.

 So many purr-sonalities

Walking through the doors of the largest house on the property, where most of the cats live who are ready for adoption, the first thing visitors notice is how clean everything is. There are no smelly litter boxes. Large bowls of fresh food and water are placed throughout, with multiple cats at each. Some cats are curled up napping in round, cozy beds or on soft, clean blankets. Others rub up against visitors’ ankles, eager to be petted or picked up.

And yes, there is plenty of purring, some gentle, some loud and insistent as the cats check out the visitors and get used to the new faces and scents. The cats’ personalities become evident as more time is spent in the large main living space filled with places for cats to play, climb and nap.

Take Sundae Swirl, for example, a long-haired ragdoll female with a withered paw who was rescued off the streets of Miami and brought to Purradise Gardens. Curled up on her blanket, she graciously accepted chin scratches and head pats while purring at a volume that made it quite clear she was happy with the attention.

Then there’s Ernie, a gray tabby curled up in a round bed who gave off a bit of a curmudgeonly air but was purring, nonetheless.

Or Sid, a black-and-white “tuxedo” who at 17 has been at the refuge for most of his life, weaving in and out between visitors’ legs and meowing as if to say, “Hey, look at me! I’m down here!”

Keeping the cats healthy and happy — and their environment safe and clean — takes a lot of help, Sorbara said, which is where her small army of volunteers comes in, arriving for morning or afternoon shifts to clean litterboxes, mop floors, freshen food and water and give medications.

“And then we have cuddlers, people that come in throughout the day to just pet and play and brush and cuddle with the cats,” Sorbara said. “They love that.”

She said the refuge is currently at capacity and does not take owner surrenders, in order to keep its mission focused on helping rescue cats from the streets of Collier County.

Costs covered by donations, philanthropy

Purradise Gardens is not affiliated with Patty Baker Humane Society Naples or Collier County Domestic Animal Services, and receives no help from the county or area municipalities, relying strictly on donations and philanthropic gifts.

Last November, Purradise Gardens received a $150,000 gift from philanthropist Tom Golisano through the Golisano Foundation, which Sorbara said would be used for operational costs and would allow the organization to “take a deep breath.”

“This was just such a blessing and so needed,” Sorbara told The Naples Press at the time of the gift. “It’s difficult to keep afloat and this definitely will help in a huge way. And we’ll be able to save more animals and kind of take the pressure off so we can focus on other areas. Just to be recognized by the Golisano Foundation is a huge honor.”

She said expenses typically run about $15,000 per month, including $300 a day spent on food at the cat farm and $3,000 a month on food for the nightly feedings at the industrial park.

While the organization is renting the current property, Sorbara said she hopes eventually to purchase property for a permanent home for the sanctuary so it can keep welcoming cats from the streets.

“That’s why we have this, because it’s so problematic with the feral cats, or the community cats,” Sorbara said. “A lot of people don’t want them, you know, and it’s like — there’s no magic land for them to go to. So, we are creating the magic land.”

A recent incident at the refuge shows that the cats living there might indeed see it as a “magic land” of safety and security. In early May, Sorbara said, a bear broke into a screened deck on one of the houses, stealing two bins of dry food, which it then had to abandon after not being able to open them.

None of the 40 cats living in the house were injured when the bear broke in, having all dashed out, and Sorbara expressed gratitude and amazement at what happened next.

“With the bear attack, 40 cats went out and they all walked right back in,” she said.

Getting involved at Purradise Gardens

• Volunteers needed for two shifts, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5 p.m.-7 p.m., seven days a week; “help is always welcome, even for an hour,” according to purradisegardens.org
• Supplies needed: Cat food, wet and dry, through Amazon or Chewy; fleece blankets; cat carriers; cat toys; catnip; Tractor Supply $10 gift cards for cat litter
• Adoption events held every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at PetSmart, 2415 Tarpon Bay Blvd., Naples
• Follow Purradise Gardens Inc. on Facebook and on Instagram @purradise-gardens for information on specific donation needs and upcoming events, including the annual Halloween fundraising party
• Call 424.835.1523 for additional information
• Address for food donations: 921 No Name Lane, Naples, FL 34120
• Mailing address: 2641 Airport Road S., Suite A108, Naples, FL 34112