Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi everyone. If your nonprofit or shelter has any kind of financial assistance program for low-income pet owners or those facing hardship, I'd love to hear from you. We are a recently established 501(c)(3) that provides temporary financial assistance to pet owners facing financial hardship to help pay for prescription medications OR food for their pet's chronic medical conditons (think diabetes, kidney disease, Cushings, etc). We initially determined that pet owners could reapply for assistance after the initial funding period had ended because financial hardship doesn't always just go away immediately, and the nature of the pets we help, well, they need the medication forever. Before we started operations in November, we had an attorney draw up an agreement that all clients are required to read and sign prior to assistance given. This states how much of the medication we are covering, the length of time, and also that future funding is not guaranteed. This is the big part that people do not like to read! Some challenges that we are facing is because we are a new and also small organization, returning applicants are receiving funding one day, and then the next day, a new applicant will email and we are unable to help them. I am wondering what other orgs' policies are for reapplying for assistance? I am considering changing to once per year because if someone is on SSI or disability, that doesn't just go away after a one-time assistance. What are your thoughts? 

#AccesstoCare
#CaseManagement*
#OrganizationalManagement
#PetSupportServices*

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Sarah Fuqua
Director
The Bobo Fund
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Hi, 

I'm the Helpline Coordinator for a local shelter with a municipal contract. We have an entire department called our Community Solutions Department that works on these types of issues. We offer vet assistance vouchers. These are typically use over the course of one or two visits, but sometimes I'll assist with a few months of meds for an owner. Owners are allowed one vet assistance voucher of between $100-300 every 12 months. This is to prevent the exact issue you're running into. When I work with a client who is dealing with a long term issue, I stress to them that I will not be able to always cover the expenses and that they will have to figure out other options. If they are unsure how to make that work I help them look into options such as switching to a cheaper regular vet, using a human pharmacy like Walmart for meds that humans also use, or ordering meds online through places like Chewy.com

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Elsa Enstrom
Helpline Coordinator
Asheville Humane Society
NC
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