2023 Open Arms Challenge

Hi group! 

I have been out with a nasty viral infection, so I apologize for my delay and silence.  I am going to review other posts and comment where applicable. I wanted to post a recap of what we have done so far in April for the #OpenArmsChallenge

1. We worked with a local non-profit (rocky relationship) and assisted with their low cost vaccine & s/n clinic. My assistant manager was there and all pets received a free county/city license via the animal shelter.  Two staff members are working with this organization to translate their spay neuter coupons into Spanish! 

2. We partnered with our volunteer vet and a local dog business to provide a rabies clinic (this Sunday) in a neighborhood that is in high need.  By going to their area, we are hoping to reduce any hindrances. Our flyer, texts, and registration are all in English and Spanish. We will also have teenagers from the local high school helping us translate in person; this will count towards their community service hours and will help our community members. 

3.  Another organization reached out about partnering  with us for transfers as well as hosting a low cost clinic. We are planning a low cost vaccine and microchip clinic with them in June! 

4.  We have been working on translating our documents into Spanish as well. We were able to focus on this and at least 75% of our documents are now in Spanish for our Spanish speaking community members. 

5. We sponsored 4 LEO to attend a state wide training. 

6. I am working with both the Sheriff's Department and the Police Department on monthly LEO training. Including body language, defensive handling, and weaving in the resources provided in the Maddie's Fund Resource Section. 

7. Our entire staff reviewed and presented on the resources for the Open Arms Challenge last month during our staff meeting.  Four of our seven staff members have never worked in an animal shelter before, so this was great information for them to have and saved me from talking so much!  

8. We received a grant for $4,000 and will be using ALL of those funds for community programs like a food bank and behavior retention programs. 
We are open to suggestions if anyone else has other ideas?

9. While my request to make us a wix website (and have it in Spanish and English) was denied, I am not being trained on how to use the current software for the Government website. It will be a learning curve, but hopefully we can have resources and information up in both languages! 

Things we were already doing:
Waiving surrender fees if they are unable to afford, creating payment plans or waiving impound fees if the owner is unable to afford, working with LEO on education and resources for owners in need, providing food when possible. We practice more of an open adoptions type policy, but will deny an adopter a specific animal for specific reasons and suggest other animals that are more appropriate for them.  We have a lot of open ended questions on our application and we get additional information from them as needed and ideally in person. 

Congratulations, Caitlin! So many amazing changes, and what a great way to get your full staff involved!

Regarding your pet food bank, have you reached out to your local human food bank to see if they include pet food (or would be open to adding it)? Michigan Humane reached out to theirs and the CEO of their food bank surveyed their clients to see how many of them were using the food provided to feed their pets (thereby reducing what the human family members received) and learned it was more than 70% (I don't recall the exact percentage but it was in the mid- to -high70s as I recall). They added pet food to their food bank to better serve their clients.

Hi group! 

I have been out with a nasty viral infection, so I apologize for my delay and silence.  I am going to review other posts and comment where applicable. I wanted to post a recap of what we have done so far in April for the #OpenArmsChallenge

1. We worked with a local non-profit (rocky relationship) and assisted with their low cost vaccine & s/n clinic. My assistant manager was there and all pets received a free county/city license via the animal shelter.  Two staff members are working with this organization to translate their spay neuter coupons into Spanish! 

2. We partnered with our volunteer vet and a local dog business to provide a rabies clinic (this Sunday) in a neighborhood that is in high need.  By going to their area, we are hoping to reduce any hindrances. Our flyer, texts, and registration are all in English and Spanish. We will also have teenagers from the local high school helping us translate in person; this will count towards their community service hours and will help our community members. 

3.  Another organization reached out about partnering  with us for transfers as well as hosting a low cost clinic. We are planning a low cost vaccine and microchip clinic with them in June! 

4.  We have been working on translating our documents into Spanish as well. We were able to focus on this and at least 75% of our documents are now in Spanish for our Spanish speaking community members. 

5. We sponsored 4 LEO to attend a state wide training. 

6. I am working with both the Sheriff's Department and the Police Department on monthly LEO training. Including body language, defensive handling, and weaving in the resources provided in the Maddie's Fund Resource Section. 

7. Our entire staff reviewed and presented on the resources for the Open Arms Challenge last month during our staff meeting.  Four of our seven staff members have never worked in an animal shelter before, so this was great information for them to have and saved me from talking so much!  

8. We received a grant for $4,000 and will be using ALL of those funds for community programs like a food bank and behavior retention programs. 
We are open to suggestions if anyone else has other ideas?

9. While my request to make us a wix website (and have it in Spanish and English) was denied, I am not being trained on how to use the current software for the Government website. It will be a learning curve, but hopefully we can have resources and information up in both languages! 

Things we were already doing:
Waiving surrender fees if they are unable to afford, creating payment plans or waiving impound fees if the owner is unable to afford, working with LEO on education and resources for owners in need, providing food when possible. We practice more of an open adoptions type policy, but will deny an adopter a specific animal for specific reasons and suggest other animals that are more appropriate for them.  We have a lot of open ended questions on our application and we get additional information from them as needed and ideally in person. 

Hi group! 

I have been out with a nasty viral infection, so I apologize for my delay and silence.  I am going to review other posts and comment where applicable. I wanted to post a recap of what we have done so far in April for the #OpenArmsChallenge

1. We worked with a local non-profit (rocky relationship) and assisted with their low cost vaccine & s/n clinic. My assistant manager was there and all pets received a free county/city license via the animal shelter.  Two staff members are working with this organization to translate their spay neuter coupons into Spanish! 

2. We partnered with our volunteer vet and a local dog business to provide a rabies clinic (this Sunday) in a neighborhood that is in high need.  By going to their area, we are hoping to reduce any hindrances. Our flyer, texts, and registration are all in English and Spanish. We will also have teenagers from the local high school helping us translate in person; this will count towards their community service hours and will help our community members. 

3.  Another organization reached out about partnering  with us for transfers as well as hosting a low cost clinic. We are planning a low cost vaccine and microchip clinic with them in June! 

4.  We have been working on translating our documents into Spanish as well. We were able to focus on this and at least 75% of our documents are now in Spanish for our Spanish speaking community members. 

5. We sponsored 4 LEO to attend a state wide training. 

6. I am working with both the Sheriff's Department and the Police Department on monthly LEO training. Including body language, defensive handling, and weaving in the resources provided in the Maddie's Fund Resource Section. 

7. Our entire staff reviewed and presented on the resources for the Open Arms Challenge last month during our staff meeting.  Four of our seven staff members have never worked in an animal shelter before, so this was great information for them to have and saved me from talking so much!  

8. We received a grant for $4,000 and will be using ALL of those funds for community programs like a food bank and behavior retention programs. 
We are open to suggestions if anyone else has other ideas?

9. While my request to make us a wix website (and have it in Spanish and English) was denied, I am not being trained on how to use the current software for the Government website. It will be a learning curve, but hopefully we can have resources and information up in both languages! 

Things we were already doing:
Waiving surrender fees if they are unable to afford, creating payment plans or waiving impound fees if the owner is unable to afford, working with LEO on education and resources for owners in need, providing food when possible. We practice more of an open adoptions type policy, but will deny an adopter a specific animal for specific reasons and suggest other animals that are more appropriate for them.  We have a lot of open ended questions on our application and we get additional information from them as needed and ideally in person.