At the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary in Newtown, nestled among the pine trees, nature's soundtrack has been temporarily drowned out by the clang of construction. But it’s a welcome noise, born from a mother’s steadfast vision to keep her daughter’s spirit alive.

“A labor of love is how we got here,” Jenny Hubbard said referencing the work underway on the nonprofit’s first building. “It's been ten years in the making. It's crazy.”

The sanctuary has sat on 34 acres since 2014. But this step forward cements the legacy of the sanctuary's namesake—a little girl who was committed to showing kindness and compassion to all species.

“From the minute Catherine could exert any sort of independence, her passion was animals—so much so that in our house, the rule was at the end of the day, that if you were caring for an animal, it had to be put back into nature. She had this grace of sending them off with a gentle request, and it was that they would go tell their friends that she was kind,” Hubbard recalled with a smile.

Catherine’s message now lives on through the sanctuary's mission. The 6-year-old was one of 26 first graders and educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.

“This week is hard because it just brings back floods of memories of where we were before Catherine died and what we were doing, and I think it would be really easy to sort of fall into that pit of just sadness and darkness,” Hubbard admitted.

From that pain, came an extraordinary rising up on Tuesday. Just days before the tragedy’s 12-year mark, the sanctuary held its version of a traditional barn raising and invited the community to join in. Volunteers drove pegs into timber beams before crews framed what will be Catherine's Learning Barn. The 3,400-square-foot space will house many of the nonprofit's programs that teach kindness and compassion to animals.

“Last we looked we've educated 150,000 people without a building. We've done everything on this beautiful pristine property but under tents, which makes everything we do weather dependent,” Hubbard explained.

It will be a new chapter for the sanctuary, allowing year-round programming and more extensive community workshops.

“I feel like it's so poignant because Catherine would've been 18 this year, and I feel like she would be off, she'd be going to school, she'd be spreading her wings. And this barn lets us spread ours,” Hubbard shared.

Hubbard told News 12 she didn't plan for the barn raising to coincide with the Sandy Hook anniversary. Then she learned the timber would arrive Dec. 10.

“It was one of those moments like, ‘Okay, Catherine. Here you are making a really hard week so special and so poignant.’ It's not coincidence at all,” Hubbard stated with a smile.

She said she often senses her daughter while walking the sanctuary's trails or when she sees kids in awe of animals. She knows Catherine would feel that wonder watching the sanctuary’s growth.

“You know, I think that she would be giddy, absolutely giddy,” Hubbard said laughing. “And I think that knowing that her work and her love of animals is going to be celebrated here in remarkable ways, I’m sure she's delighted.”

Construction on the two-story barn, which will also contain a community space and a kitchen, won’t be done until the spring. So far, the nonprofit has raised about half of the funding needed for the $2.3 million project. If you’d like to donate or learn more, click here.

The sanctuary’s long-term plan includes constructing a main building on the preserve with a library, a welcome center, a pavilion and a veterinary clinic