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  • 1.  Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 12 days ago

    Updated 3/9/26 at 1:12 pm - Recording now available to watch on-demand!

    Enter here for a chance to win the March Community Conversations giveaway after watching live or on-demand.

    Please note: All views expressed on these calls are not necessarily endorsed by Maddie’s Fund. 

    We hope to see you on the next Maddie's Community Conversation on Monday, March 9, 2026 at 11am PT / 2pm ET  for a conversation on "Grief is a Community Action."

    Led by Alexis Telfair-Garcia & Brittany Szalkiewics of Austin Pets Alive!, this conversation addresses the critical need for communal support to help staff, volunteers, and the wider community navigate the profound sorrow of the loss of a shelter animal. We will explore the framework for a robust community action plan focusing on three core pillars: structured support groups, heartfelt remembrance celebrations, and practicing empathy to foster collective support.


    With a focus on community and a compassionate approach to animal loss, together we strengthen the social fabric, ensuring no individual grieves in isolation. We will discuss how to model transforming disenfranchised grief into a recognized and supported community experience. This model elevates the well-being of the APA! community, proving that grief, when shared, can be a powerful force for connection and healing.

    This session is especially relevant for adoptions and foster staff & volunteers, return to home & intake prevention staff, veterinary professionals, and behavior staff & volunteers - but all are welcome! 

    🔑 Key Takeaways:

    • The critical need for communal support to help staff, volunteers, and the wider community navigate the profound sorrow of the loss of a shelter animal
    • How to implement structured support groups, heartfelt remembrance celebrations, and practicing empathy to foster collective support

    • How to model transforming disenfranchised grief into a recognized and supported community experience

    Don't forget! Maddie's Fund will be giving away up to $10,000 in grants each month! You can enter for a chance to win each time you attend a call or watch it on demand during the month by completing the monthly giveaway drawing entry form. 

    Register for Community Conversations hosted via Zoom. 

    🧠 Got Topic or Speaker Suggestions?
    We want to hear your ideas! If there's a topic you're curious about or a speaker you'd love to hear from, please share your suggestions with us on our Community Conversations Suggestions thread. 

    Looking forward to being in community with you! 


    #EducationandTraining

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    Sheila Kouhkan
    Senior Education Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
    CA
    ------------------------------



  • 2.  RE: Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 6 days ago

    I am really excited for this one. Our shelter just lost an dog (an neglect case) and it has hit the staff, the foster, and the volunteer community pretty hard. Support networks are so important and I look forward to learning more about how we can create points of connection.



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    Kayla Corbett
    Board Member
    Friends of Lawrence County Animals
    TN
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 6 days ago

    In my shelter community, there seems to be an emotional disconnect between staff and volunteers. We have some volunteers who don't seem to understand the emotional toll paid by staff and we feel like we are often perceived as unfeeling or emotionally numb. I am not sure how to have this conversation with volunteers and I also don't feel inclined to share the grief because I don't think that is helpful. 



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    Eleanor Monfett
    Town of Saugerties Animal Shelter
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 6 days ago

    Thanks to our speakers, Alexis Telfair-Garcia and  Brittany Szalkiewics - and everyone who joined us today! 

    We would love to hear from you in response to today's reflection question: How does your organization honor the human-animal bond throughout the grieving process?



    ------------------------------
    Sheila Kouhkan
    Senior Education Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
    CA
    ------------------------------


  • 5.  RE: Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 4 days ago

    To us, "grooming" has always been about more than just a haircut, it's about the bond. 

    A question we often get asked at LC'S Detroit Pet Salon and LC'S Foundation is how we honor that bond when it's time to say goodbye. The truth is, many of the pets we see have been coming to us for years. We've seen them grow, and we've seen them age.

    Honoring the grieving process means:
    1. Validating that pets are family. Period.
    2.Providing a compassionate ear to our clients who are navigating loss. And we often check in with our clients after the pet has passed. 
    3. Continuing our work in Humane Education to ensure our community knows they don't have to grieve in isolation.

    But after this session, I have so many more ideas on how to honor the pets and support the people who love them. 



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    Tonya Smith
    Founder
    LC'S Foundation
    Michigan
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 6 days ago

    Thanks to the 113+ people and paws who joined us on today's Community Conversations call! The recording is now available to watch on-demand. Below you'll find a recap of today's call and the resources shared. 

    Call Recap

    Welcome from hosts


    Question of the Day:      What's one small thing you've been doing lately to support your mental health?

    Grant Giveaway Winners

    • February Maddie's Community Conversations Giveaway Winners of $5,000 each
      • @LaTonya Smith (She/her), LC's Foundation, Southfield, MI
        • ""LC'S Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on improving animal welfare both locally and internationally. Its core work centers on supporting pets and the people who care for them, especially in underserved communities. Here's a clear breakdown of what it does:
           Support for Animals in Need - Helps pets who are homeless, abused, neglected, or at risk by partnering with animal welfare organizations.
           Community Assistance - Provides resources to pet owners who are facing financial hardship so they can care for their animals.
           Education & Outreach - Offers education about proper pet care and professional grooming (often in connection with grooming schools or programs). 
           We will be creating packages to give out to people and pets!!" - LaTonya Smith
      • @Kirstin Cummings, Full Circle Cats, Oakland, CA 
        • "Thank you so much! Full Circle Cats is a community cat organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We do spay/neuter, adoption, and education around community cat management. So excited about this grant and it makes such a big difference!" -Kirstin Cummings
    • February Maddie's Pet Forum Giveaway Winners of $3,000 
      • @Alex Ocampo, Butler County Humane Society, Renfrew, PA
        • "Thank you so much! Our shelter is very excited to put the grant to good use!" - Alex Ocampo


    National Updates

    • Maddie's Insights webcast this Thursday, 3/12: Maddie's® Insights is our ongoing webcast series with practical tips based on current research to help pets and people. This week Dr. Jennifer Vernick, a veterinary behavioral medicine resident at Atlantic Veterinary College, UPEI in Canada will speak on how early-life stress affects rescue kittens' behavior and health.  Register today. 
    • From Community Cats Central: We have a fun webinar coming up! Trappers' Tips &. Tricks is totally free, totally virtual, and a great place to learn creative and unusual solutions to trap those trap-savvy cats - or multiple cats at the same time, or in those hard to trap places! More information and registration here. 
    • From Humane Canada: Please join us on March 31st for our FREE, ONLINE event around our knowledge exchange on Engaging men and boys as allies in Violence Prevention. Register here. 
    • From My Dog is My Home: Surrendering a pet due to housing struggles is also a source of grief. Please join us for the My Dog Is My Home Conference 2026 from March 24-26. This virtual conference is for 3 days with one mission: to increase pet-inclusive emergency and affordable housing (so people don't have to separate from their pets unnecessarily). $75 registration discount/promo code (case sensitive): MaddiesFriend26 Scholarships are also available here. Register today.
    • Maddie's Community Conversations Giveaway: Now you can enter for a chance to win up to  $10,000!  Enter here for a chance to win.  Open to all who are watching live or on-demand! Be sure to enter each week you attend! You must be registered in Maddie's Pet Forum to enter. 
    • Maddie's Pet Forum Monthly Giveaway: Maddie's Fund® is giving away a $3,000 grant each month to one lucky Maddie's® Pet Forum member. You'll automatically be entered to win each month when you start a new discussion, reply to a new post. Learn more here. 
    • We would love to hear from you! Have an idea for Maddie's Community Conversations? Interested in hosting? Have a topic or speaker you would like to hear from? Let us know on Maddie's Pet Forum via the Community Conversations Suggestions discussion thread. Or, you can contact us directly by emailing CommunityConversations@maddiesfund.org.
    • We invite you to share on our latest giveaway thread on Maddie's Pet Forum. When has temporary or safety net fostering (even just a few days or weeks) made a real difference for a pet, person, or community?
      Commenting on the thread in February or March will enter you into a giveaway to win $1,000 in unrestricted funds. We can't wait to celebrate your wins with you!


    Presentation:     Grief Is A Community Action


    Highlights from the Chat

    • "There's so much guilt for me when I have a loss...I keep a log of "lessons learned" when I lose a resident, so I can try to keep improving care" - Julia Clodfelter 
    • "Ambiguous loss happens a lot when caring for feral cat colonies." - Julia Clodfelter 
    • "We have a summer event, and a local florist provides materials to pot a plant in memory of or in honor of their pets." - Alex Ocampo
    • "You're helping me brainstorm...a lot of times owners who surrender animals here still struggle with the medical decisions or outcomes that occur, so that's something always navigated compassionately. Maybe I need more policy or formal offerings in place related. " - Julia Clodfelter
    • "Fantastic presentation... thank you! Several losses came up for me because, in the heat of the moment, there wasn't really time to process the losses." - Mary Flores
    • "In my hospital we used to light a candle for the staff to commemorate the passing of a patient." - Alan Stewart
    • "TNR Mecosta has a trailer we use to transport cats to the vet.  We are thinking of providing a small sticker that people can have and put their pet's name on it and then we would put it on the trailer." - Bonnie Clark
    • "For people in the Bay Area: we are producing an immersive theater experience of short plays at the end of October at the Marsh about the beauty and strength of the Human Animal Bond - how it's strong enough to propel us to get our next loved one. And it will be available to travel to different areas!" - Alan Stewart
    • "I'm so pleased to see this topic getting attention. It's desperately needed throughout the country. I hope you might consider getting on the conference circuit and making this regular and widespread! Bravo APA team and Maddie's for making this possible." - Renee Wolfgramm



    ------------------------------
    Sheila Kouhkan
    Senior Education Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
    CA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Community Conversations - 03/09/2026 - Grief is a Community Action

    Posted 4 days ago

    How does your organization honor the human-animal bond throughout the grieving process?

    We have a lot of individuals come in to donate after losing their animal or coming to either help with their grief by helping out around our shelter. I think just being a listener and showing support is the biggest thing you can ever do. Many people during this stage do have what was talked about in the video where there is a disconnect between grief and people who see losing an animal as "a lesser than or not as important". However, people come to us as a way to be able to process because we see this bond as the same or even stronger than human bonds sometimes. And sometimes people just need to give love to other animals as a way to help them process their grief.



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    Abby Vernon
    Animal Caregiver
    Ark Animal Rescue and Adoption
    IN
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    Original Message


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