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Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

  • 1.  Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 04-26-2022 04:50 PM

    Updated 4/29 at 2:45pm - Recording Now Available!



    We hope you'll join us for our final We Foster Challenge Huddle! Wednesday, April 27th at 11am PT, we'll be joined by our host @Kelly Clardy and our guest speakers @Jorge Ortega of Guilford County Animal Services, @Alexandra Furr of Nashville Humane Association and @Holly Faccenda of Kitsap Humane Society. They will be discussing the final two welcoming practices which include: 

    Foster program supports the community by being inclusive of all dogs and cats in the organization's care
    • Program supports people and pets through behavior foster, medical foster, fospice and underage puppy and kitten foster
    • Organization offers a variety of foster programs (i.e. - long term, overnights, weekend, field trips) so all community members can help
    • Adoptable animals are included in program and foster volunteers are empowered to serve as Adoption Ambassadors

    and

    Organization creates partnerships with other community groups
    • Local social services organizations help promote fostering services to prevent surrender
    • Program is promoted and fosters are recruited through local businesses/organizations (i.e. - senior care facilities, universities, small businesses, corporate partnerships)
    • Local ordinances encourage program accessibility (i.e. - eliminating home visits, ownership laws, mandatory classes)

    If you haven't registered for any of the huddles yet, you can do so here: http://maddiesfund-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqcOCgpzsjHdBwJJjQMRKlGmTYFewmVOee

    Need to catch up on previous huddles? All huddles are available to watch and share on this YouTube playlist:



    See you tomorrow!

    ------------------------------
    Charlotte Otero
    Community Strategist at Maddie's Fund
    she/her
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 04-27-2022 12:18 PM
    Hi Friends! It was incredible to connect today! Please email me at alexandra@nashvillehumane.org or chat here for any/all questions relating to crisis fostering, human service partnerships and more with FAQ on program available via our Temporary Care (Crisis Fostering) page and a summary of this program and related below!


    We maintain roughly 18 human service partnerships in Davidson Co. with these partnerships continuing to grow in effort to preserve and celebrate the human-animal bond with our Temporary Care crisis fostering program providing up to 90 days of fostering support for crises such as transitional homelessness due to fleeing domestic violence, loss of income, change in family status, house fire, flooding, natural disaster and hospitalization/rehabilitation with planned dates for entry and exit.


    Our human services are largely advocacy groups supporting those experiencing homelessness and domestic violence however also include mental health organizations, veteran affairs, local food banks, shower mobiles, lgbt+ advocacy groups and more. 


    Welcome Home, a program that works in conjunction with Temporary Care and provides pet deposit support, pet food and pet supplies to those newly housed, is only available to our Temporary Care families and pet families referred through HMIS participating agencies and on the partner end, offers bulk pet food and supplies to emergency/transitional shelters to increase cohousing efforts in Davidson Co. with all winter shelters able to accept pets due to these partnerships.

     

    We became an HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) participating agency at the beginning of this year after being approved by a committee of human service organizations and agencies and this allows us to refer our clients to rapid re-housing, Section 8 vouchers, Connector Cards, Urban Housing Solutions and more while also ensuring we are connected with local advocacy groups and human services so to meet both ends of the leash - exploring what resource gaps exist for our clients, who can we work with to fill these gaps and who is filling the gaps if they are being filled!  

    To foster for Temporary Care, you must be 18+ within an hour's drive of Davidson Co. and have a passion for keeping pets with the families who love them! We supply our fosters with everything they need to have the most fulfilling experience possible with vetting, pet food, pet supplies, behavior and training guidance, updates on the family they're supporting where applicable and photos of reunited families provided along the way! We are proud to have fosters from all walks of life, with fosters specific to Temporary Care seven dozen and growing, this phenomenal network of fosters often spreading the word when needs arise and playing a great hand in our families' reunions and success thereafter - This truly being a community effort, supporting our community through our community!


    Alexandra Furr
    Safety Net Resource Coordinator
    Nashville Humane Association 
    alexandra@nashvillehumane.org


  • 3.  RE: Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 04-29-2022 03:00 PM
      |   view attached
    Thanks to everyone who joined us for the final huddle of the We Foster Challenge on Wednesday and to all of our amazing guest speakers. If you missed the call or want to share with a colleague, the recording is now available to watch on-demand

    I've also attached a PDF of the Animal Farm Foundation resource that Alexandra shared in the chat. The awesome infographic and website (https://animalfarmfoundation.org/all-dogs-are-individuals/) should give you some ideas on how to respond the next time a potential adopter or foster asks about breed labels. Or you can take inspiration from what Ann shared in the chat: "Similar to Ellen, when people ask, I say, 'It's 100% dog,' and people laugh. Then I give an example of a 'Frenchy' that we had - when the adopter did the DNA, she was actually 50% staffy, a few other things, and only 10% Frenchy. Or the lab mixes that looked like labs and were 45% Chihuahua. They usually get it, then, that we cannot know and that it's all about the individual dog, not its DNA."

    With our huddles ending, now the work begins! The challenge period is May 1 - 31. We hope you'll continue to use this discussion group to share the good, the not so good and everything in between so we can continue to learn and support each other through the challenge. 

    And don't forget to sign your shelter up for the free custom pet portrait mugs to honor 3 of your fosters thanks to Adoptimize! ☕️ Sign up here: https://www.adoptimize.co/recipawsity-we-foster-challenge

    ------------------------------
    Charlotte Otero
    Community Strategist at Maddie's Fund
    she/her
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 05-03-2022 12:55 PM
      |   view attached
    Hi everyone!

    I had such a great time connecting with everyone last Wednesday. Here are a few additional resources we chatted about in the discussion:

    Continued Education for Fosters:
    - Canine Body Language Class - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWW4GOMkL5s
    - Bottle Baby Care Class - https://www.canva.com/design/DAE05DeHkYU/84_ixJyIgv-D0xCo2fsvAQ/view?utm_content=DAE05DeHkYU&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
    - Kitten Socialization Class - https://www.canva.com/design/DAE0JmCxSSw/5DARVh7kjEvqUDtjg0mdCA/view?utm_content=DAE0JmCxSSw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

    Foster Parent Lawn Sign:

    Two Week Quarantine Materials:
    - Quicksheet (attached)

    Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions at hfaccenda@kitsap-humane.org !

    Thank you,
    Holly Faccenda
    Foster Manager 
    Kitsap Humane Society 


    ------------------------------
    Holly Faccenda
    Kitsap Humane Society
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Quarantine Quicksheet.pdf   142 KB 1 version


  • 5.  RE: Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 05-03-2022 05:29 PM
    Is it possible to have the canva files as templates so we could customize them for our orgs without creating them from scratch?

    ------------------------------
    kerryann may
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 05-04-2022 12:01 PM
    Great idea, Kerryann! 

    We've created editable templates of Holly's presentations to make it easy for you to duplicate in Canva for your organization.

    Here are the links for editable versions of the KHS presentations: 
       Kitten Socialization: https://maddies.fund/khskittensocializationcanvatemplate
       Bottle Baby Feeding and Care: https://maddies.fund/khsbottlebabiescanvatemplate

    To duplicate the presentation in Canva for your organization: 
    • Sign into your organization's Canva account
    • Open the link to the presentation you want to duplicate
    • Select "File" -> "Make a Copy"
    • A copy of the file will open in a new window
    Select File -> Make a Copy

    Thanks again to @Holly Faccenda and the KHS team for creating these amazing presentations and making them accessible for all challengers! 


    ------------------------------
    Charlotte Otero
    Community Strategist at Maddie's Fund
    she/her
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Huddle 4: Foster Program Supports the Community by Being Inclusive of All Dogs and Cats in Organization's Care and Organization Creates Partnerships with Other Community Groups

    Posted 05-04-2022 12:12 PM
    Unbelievable! Thank you so very much!!

    ------------------------------
    kerryann may
    ------------------------------