Humane Society of Buncombe County

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

The populations we serve within Buncombe and the surrounding counties include: • Low-income Residents • Seniors Living on Fixed Incomes • Public Housing Residents and Management • Trailer Park Residents and Management • Homeless Residents • Small Businesses • Construction Sites

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Case management notes, Suggestion box/email, Social Media,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

The primary low-cost facility for spay/neuter surgeries utilized by low-income residents and the shelter system was closed during 2020 most heavily affecting areas where residents have experienced an economic downturn and have been unable to take care of their pets. Through our website, social media and word-of-mouth, we have been inundated with requests from the public for our services. Local animal service agencies also refer individuals in need of assistance to Friends2Ferals. Starting in 2020, Friends2Ferals began engaging services from numerous additional spay/neuter facilities to reduce the rampant rate of reproduction. We also expanded our transport services, and upgraded our Animal Care Center.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

Friends2Ferals has been helping community cats and providing no-cost medical services to low-income residents of several counties for over 14 years. Due to the variety of people and situations we deal with (see our response to question #2) we have vastly improved our strategies for dealing with communities that can sometimes be a challenge to navigate organizationally, such as public housing and trailer parks. By addressing the concerns of management we have become better at meeting the needs of the our clients, the residents of such communities.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, We don't have enough volunteers,