Camp Maddie: Pet-Inclusive Housing

Join us at Camp Maddie: Pet-Inclusive Housing Edition!

Camp Maddie is back! Join us for the third edition of Camp Maddie, a free virtual half-day event on Wednesday, November 13th from 9am-1 pm PT (12 pm-4 pm ET).

Across the country, many people face tough choices due to housing restrictions, often having to give up their pets. At Camp Maddie, we will cover a variety of topics related to pet housing in presentations, videos and question and answer sessions. Presenters will share ideas about:

• Understanding human homelessness response systems for better animal welfare advocacy and program design

• Dog-inclusive housing

• Legal protections for tenants with pets and the eviction process

• Engaging rental housing providers with pet-inclusive approaches and pet owners with information they need to access pet-inclusive rental housing

Camp Maddie is perfect for those interested or involved in animal shelters or foster-based organizations, social workers and anyone passionate about keeping pets and people together.

At the end of the free half-day event, presenters will share a collection of resources to help you apply what you learn in your own organization and community. By embracing pet-inclusive policies, we can help families stay together and create neighborhoods where pets are valued as part of the family. Come make new friends and help make housing accessible to all members of the family!

Agenda

Homelessness is a growing epidemic in the United States. According to the State of Homelessness: 2024 Edition report released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a record-high 653,104 people experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2023, more people than ever are experiencing homelessness for the first time, and severe housing cost burden is on the rise. A growing body of evidence also shows that housing and homelessness has significant impacts on the surrender of animals to animal shelters, with housing-related surrenders making up about 14% of overall intakes. Therefore, the design, efficacy, and service delivery of the human homeless response system should be of interest to the animal welfare field for more informed advocacy and program design.

This 1-hour webinar will provide an overview of three elements of the human homeless response system: diversion and prevention, emergency shelters and interim housing, and permanent housing. By understanding these major components of the human homeless response system, attendees will have more clarity on how to advocate for and design programs to support pet-inclusive solutions. By the end of this webinar, attendees will be able to:

- Define three major components of any community’s human homeless response system.
- Name at least one area of potential collaboration between your animal welfare organization and a housing and/or homelessness organization.

Dog-inclusive housing isn’t just about allowing pets—it’s about keeping families together and creating healthier, more compassionate communities. Across the country, many pet owners face tough choices due to housing restrictions, often having to give up their dogs. By embracing dog-inclusive policies, we can help families stay together and create neighborhoods where pets are valued as part of the family.

In this presentation, we’ll share insights from over 13 years of advocating for dog inclusive rentals, showing how dog-inclusive housing improves both mental and physical health, lowers stress, and keeps pets out of shelters. We'll break down the real impact this has on families and communities nationwide, and discuss how everyone benefits when housing is accessible to all—pets included.

HEART LA is dedicated to ensuring that legal protections for tenants with pets are not just theoretical but actively applied in the real world to prevent housing insecurity. Many tenants, especially those with emotional support animals (ESAs), face legal barriers and discrimination from landlords despite existing protections. Our mission is to bridge this gap by using legal interventions to secure housing rights and provide tenants with the security they deserve. We believe that no one should be forced to choose between their home and their pet, and our work focuses on translating legal rights into real-world protections that keep people and their animals together.

In this presentation, we will provide a brief overview of the legal protections for tenants with pets and the eviction process. We will also discuss data-driven practices and how they inform all areas of our programming from legal services to policy & advocacy, and community engagement

Animal shelters and rescues are often on the receiving end of pet surrenders due to complex rental housing issues that are difficult to address in the moment. Recognizing the need for sustainable solutions, Michelson Found Animals’ Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative (PIHI) has developed resources to help animal welfare organizations more effectively engage rental housing providers with pet-inclusive approaches to help build happier, healthier communities. Through this session, the PIHI team will provide a path for having more effective conversations with rental housing providers while empowering pet owners with the information they need to access pet-inclusive rental housing.

Meet Our Guest Speakers

Learn more about our Camp Maddie: Pet-Inclusive Housing guest speakers!

Christine Kim, Founder at My Dog Is My Home

Christine is a macro social worker with a specialized interest in building programs and policies that recognize the power of the human-animal bond. During her time working in supportive housing, Christine became acutely aware of the barriers people experiencing homelessness with animal face when attempting to access shelter and housing services. Christine’s research and work with human-animal homeless families includes several academic press publications, an exhibition for The Animal Museum called My Dog Is My Home, and the founding of the non-profit organization by the same name. She served as the first director of the NYC Mayor's Office of Animal Welfare under Mayor Bill de Blasio, and she is the recipient of the ASPCA’s 2021 Public Service Humane Awards for her leadership at the NYC’s Mayor’s Office during the COVID-19 pandemic. Christine currently serves on the board of directors for Animal Care Centers of NYC.

Speaker for session titled, "Understanding Human Homelessness Response Systems for Better Animal Welfare Advocacy & Program Design"

Visit Christine Kim's Profile on Maddie's Pet Forum

Shannon Glenn, Executive Director at My Pitbull Is Family

Shannon started with My Pit Bull is Family in 2014 and quickly became an expert in housing policy and surrender prevention for the animal welfare community. She has an extensive professional background in grassroots campaigns, voter outreach, community building, fundraising, homeless advocacy, and policy creation. Shannon is a tireless advocate for adults experiencing homelessness and was previously the Shelter Supervisor for the only pet-friendly emergency homeless shelter in the state of Minnesota.

Shannon holds a Master’s in Advocacy and Political Leadership where she centered her degree program around drafting policies to end housing and insurance discrimination for families with large dogs and graduated from the Executive Leadership Certification program for Animal Welfare at Southern Utah University in partnership with Best Friends Animal Society in 2021.

In 2019, Shannon developed the North Minneapolis Pet Resource Center program after volunteering at Minneapolis Animal Care and Control where she realized that her neighbors in North Minneapolis lacked access to quality pet food, supplies and resources leading to increased owner surrenders and at large pets.

She lives in North Minneapolis – Minnesota with her partner, Anthony, their four dogs Charlotte, Fern, Luna Tuna and Wilbur, and cat Max. You can usually find Shannon spending her free time binging true crime shows, skating in circles learning how to play roller derby, & dreaming about traveling.

Speaker for session titled, "Dog-Inclusive Housing: Why It Matters and How It Impacts Families Nationwide"

Visit Shannon Glenn's Profile on Maddie's Pet Forum

Dianne Prado, Founder & President at Housing Equity & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART LA)

Dianne Prado started her career as a staff attorney with the Eviction Defense Network, and later joined Inner City Law Center in 2012 where she defended tenants in evictions and sued slumlords in affirmative litigation suits. Dianne is an appointed public member of the CA Veterinary Medical Board, trainer and consultant for the Stay Housed Los Angeles (SHLA) eviction defense program.

Speaker for session titled, "Paws & Laws: Keeping People & Pets Together & Housed"

Visit Dianne Prado's Profile on Maddie's Pet Forum

Diana Cruz, Program Director / Law Clerk at Housing Equity & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART LA)

Diana Cruz came to HEART LA as a client in 2018 and officially joined the team in 2020. She has a background in Student Affairs, capacity building as an Americorps VISTA, and studied at UC Davis. She is committed to helping ensure that people are able to access and maintain their housing with their animal companions. She lives with a silly cat named Icarus and a goofy dog named Ranger.

Speaker for session titled, "Paws & Laws: Keeping People & Pets Together & Housed"

Visit Diana Cruz's Profile on Maddie's Pet Forum

Zaira Bernal, Paralegal at Housing Equity & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART LA)

Zaira Bernal joined HEART LA in 2023. Prior to working with HEART LA, Zaira aided domestic violence survivors at Domestic Violence Project, led by the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Counsel for Justice. She also served as a paralegal at Eviction Defense Network, a non-profit dedicated to closing the access to justice gap in eviction proceedings. Zaira lives with her bestie, an effervescent pup named Ophelia.

Speaker for session titled, "Paws & Laws: Keeping People & Pets Together & Housed"

Ross Barker, Program Director of Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative at Michelson Found Animals

Ross Barker is the Program Director for the Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative (PIHI) at Michelson Found Animals Foundation. A research professional for more than twenty years, Ross has worked in the pet care area for the past decade. Prior to joining Michelson, Ross led research and innovation teams for Banfield Pet Hospital and Kinship, both part of the Mars Petcare organization.

Ross recently earned a master’s degree in Public Policy with an emphasis in social policy from Oregon State University, where he also worked in the Oregon State Policy Analysis Lab. Additionally, Ross holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Speaker for session titled, "Engaging Rental Housing Providers in Pet-Inclusive Approaches"

Visit Ross Barker's Profile on Maddie's Pet Forum

Sara Maria Muriello, Senior Program Manager of Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative at Michelson Found Animals

Sara Maria Muriello is the Senior Program Manager for the Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative (PIHI) at Michelson Found Animals Foundation. Prior to joining Michelson, Sara worked in the animal welfare field for over a decade, leading operations teams at Pasadena Humane in Pasadena, California and directing project management at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society.

Sara recently completed the ABA-approved paralegal studies program at the University of California, San Diego and holds certificates in nonprofit management and animal shelter management from the University of California, Irvine and University of the Pacific, respectively. Sara graduated with a BA degree from the University of California, Irvine.

Speaker for session titled, "Engaging Rental Housing Providers in Pet-Inclusive Approaches"

Visit Sara Maria Muriello's Profile on Maddie's Pet Forum