Feeding Pets of the Homeless

Feeding Pets of the Homeless (AKA Pets of the Homeless) is committed to providing pet food and veterinary care to pets that belong to homeless across the U.S.
Our long term strategic plan focuses on the following areas:
1) Pet Food & Crates: Although we have a strong network of donation sites and pet food providers (soup kitchens, food pantries), occasionally a they will request additional food, which we purchase and deliver/ship.
2) Emergency Veterinary Care: Immediate veterinary care for acute illness or injury. This is our most costly program due to urgency and the diagnosis that frequently requires extensive treatment and surgery.
3) Wellness Clinics: We partner with veterinary hospitals to provide clinics where preventive treatment is offered to pets owned by homeless individuals or low-income families usually at locations where the homeless congregate. By sponsoring wellness clinic across the country we are helping to stop the spread of disease and illness.
4) Crates: We provide pet crates free of charge to homeless shelters that allow pets indoors if crated. The crates then becomes property of the shelter for future use.
All programs are free to pet owners who are homeless (the wellness clinics and pet food are extended to low income families).
5) Veteran Pet Support: Feeding Pets of the Homeless provides emergency veterinary care, preventative wellness clinics, and pet food and supplies to the companion animals of homeless people across the country. The organization also provides assistance to veterans who are homeless as well as those veterans participating in the HUD-VASH program who are housed and in VA treatment programs.

Feeding Pets of the Homeless is focusing on creating improved ways to communicate with the homeless population and to bring awareness to the general public about pets that belong to the homeless.
• Recruit new donation sites and distributing agencies that will give out the pet food via our vast number of volunteers across the country and our website.
• Many homeless hear about the emergency veterinary care program from other homeless who have used your services, they also find us via the internet.
• Once a hospital has worked with us on an emergency case and learn more about our programs they are ready to take that next step of donating their time to help by having a wellness clinic. Many of our clients' pets have never had any vaccinations and so providing the funding for the hard costs veterinarians can donate their time to go where the homeless congregate and provide vaccinations and offer spay/neuters, which we will pay for after the clinic.
• Provide information on the importance of spay/neutering to homeless, who sometimes believe that they can sell puppies.
• Reach out to homeless shelters about the importance of allowing pets in with their owners. Without the social services provided at the shelters many homeless remain in homelessness.
• Publicize:
o We have updated our website and update it daily to better serve our clients and donors.
o Adding content 5 times a week on our Facebook page.
o Writing complying and heartwarming stories about the cases that we have helped in our newsletter.
o Press releases including our annual “Give a Dog a Bone" campaign to increase donations of pet food and supplies
• Advertise
• Continue to apply for grants from foundations

In 2017, we started an endowment fund which now has $952,000.
As of June 2022, Feeding Pets of the Homeless has a national presence with donation sites and distributing organizations in 50 states. In addition to another 300+ volunteers in every state and some in Canada. Our newsletter has a current readership of over 14,000 and our Facebook page has over 107,000 followers. Feeding Pets of the Homeless is recognized as the leader on the topic and has gained the trust of the homeless population. With partnerships with over 1,700 hospitals we have provided veterinary services to over 24,500 pets that belong to the homeless. The 845 tons of pet food and supplies has helped hundreds of thousands of pets across the country.

Three main staff:
o Founder has extensive marketing and promotion experience and a wealth of information on homeless with pets. She has been quoted and appeared in a number of books, blogs, TV, radio and national consumer and trade magazines. She is the grant writer.
o CFO has been with the agency since the beginning, first as a board member and then applied for ED when the Board voted to hire. She has her Nonprofit Management Certificate from State University of New York. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
o Executive Director as of Jan. 2022. This staff member was hired in 2015 and worked through a number of positions within the nonprofit proving her leadership, experience in accounting, and customer service.

Feeding Pets of the Homeless' website is the main line of communication. It provides the homeless with a wealth of information to keep their pet healthy and well fed, as well as contact information to call us when they have an emergency. It provides the public with answers to their questions about pets that belong to the homeless. Information about the programs that the agency has and an avenue to ways to give donations whether in the form of pet food or monetary donations.

With a dedicated staff of nine full time employees, nine board members, an advisory committee and hundreds of volunteers our goals are being met.

External strengths of Pets of the Homeless are the many private foundations, donors, and pet food donation sites and distributing centers that help to feed the hundreds of thousands of pets.

We are registered as a charity in all States that have that requirement.

Feeding Pets of the Homeless has created a nationwide network that includes:
- 200+ donation sites (collect pet food and supplies that are distributed for free)
- 440+ pet food providers sites (food banks, soup kitchens and homeless shelters)
- Collecting and distributing over 845 tons of pet food with an estimated fair market value of over $3.6 million since its inception
- Has provided veterinary treatment to over 24,500 pets across the U.S. with our 1,700 hospitals nationwide.
- We have sponsored over 550 wellness clinics in 49 locations.
- Awareness on Facebook has grown exponentially in the last few years as has all social media.
- Newsletter subscribers have increased.

Like other nonprofits Feeding Pets of the Homeless has a few obstacles. They include: (1) screening the homeless over the phone and getting homeless verification, (2) searching for a hospital that the homeless can walk to when transportation is not available, (3) hospitals that will not discount services to our nonprofit, and lastly, (4) managing life threatening emergencies when our office is closed (5) taking and making over 17,000 in the last 12 months (June 2021 - June 2022).