Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

Hi Craig- This is so great! There's a fairly new platform out there called BestyBNB which is an online system based on this very thing. It allows people to sign up to foster short term to support people who are in need due to DV, hospitalization, etc. 

My advice to you is first and foremost to look into insurance. I believe there may be only one company that will currently insure foster programs. It's really challenging because fostering dogs does sometimes lead to bites and insurers want nothing to do with it. As the person running the foster program, the liability falls on you. In order for you to determine whether your concept is feasible, I would 100% start there. 

If you get past that hurdle, I would consider talking to a few of foster coordinators (shelter and/or private rescue) to get an idea of the work involved . For starters, you need to appropriately match pets with fosters. You will run into a wide range of skill sets and you can't just put any dog or cat into any home. You will also be the go to organization 24/7 to support your fosters, including issues, concerns, and medical emergencies.

Also consider what to do if the temporary need becomes long term as I've seen many times, and what happens if the animal needs medical care while your client is not the primary caretaker. It's important to have all of this planned out ahead of time and put into legal documents.

This would fill such a crucial gap. I work on the streets with so many who won't get the help they need because they have no place for their pet. It sounds like you have a bit of a learning curve from the fostering animals side so I suggest you continue to do what you are doing right here and ask lots of questions! 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

I'm sure others will have better advice, but I wanted to say I think your idea is a much-needed and honorable one. However, starting a nonprofit is not easy, and the first step should be finding support in the community. You will need a board of directors to register as a nonprofit, and a mission statement to grow from. Once you have others on board, sit down and consider the logistics of your mission and how to achieve it. You may be able to partner with an existing shelter if your mission is to provide support for the animals. Good luck! 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself. 

I started by outlining a super clear mission and vision, then found a few people who shared that passion to help build momentum and keep things moving forward together.

Hi, I'm looking to start a nonprofit organization/shelter to house pets for people who are fleeing domestic violence and people who are entering inpatient treatment for either mental health treatment or substance use treatment. I have years of case management and community mental health experience, I've been a pet owner since I can remember and grew up around kennels as my father was a kennel master for the Air Force. But that has been the extent of my shelter experience thus far and I'm really wanting to expand my knowledge base (and I do plan on trying to get some volunteer time in at a shelter as soon as I fix my transportation issue. I've been looking through some of the courses and started adding some to my list of things to study. But I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions on the best starting point for someone like myself.