My Nonprofit Reviews
kate11
Review for Heartland Humane Society, Corvallis, OR, USA
I LOVE this place!! I have trouble leaving when my shift is over ~ sometimes I wish I lived closer and didn't have anything else to do. For the past four years, I have been fortunate to volunteer with Heartland's cats and dogs, and for over a year, I have also served on the Board, for an entirely different view of the organization. It has been the most rewarding volunteer experience of my life, due in large part to the excellent staff. The whole staff, especially Director Andrea Thornberry, have consistently made me feel respected, needed, and appreciated. I have seen them make difficult decisions about how to best help a particular animal, and how to re-direct volunteer efforts which were not appropriate. The challenge of triage for limited resources and unlimited need is met with an effective blend of reason, passion, creativity, and long-range planning. Efforts to establish an 'Open Paw' environment which nourishes and socializes cats and dogs with stimulating human contact several times a day, have led to calmer animals, less barking, cleaner kennels, and animals becoming 'adoptable' more quickly. One of the most rewarding experiences I have personally had is the preparation of a special photo album which tells the story of a major rescue of over 90 dogs from a local hoarder. Many happy endings finally resulted for those dogs, and the public is often moved to donate their time, money, or talents when they see the stories.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I once took 3 youngsters on a private, tour of the facility. As a result, one of the 6-year-olds began her own "animal shelter" at home, with her stuffed animals all getting 'spayed & neutered' and put up for adoption. Starting young, spreading the word.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
pay this amazing, creative, talented, committed staff what they are worth, and enlarge the facility so that dogs AND cats could have rooms rather than cages and safe, stimulating outdoor runs.
What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
Getting to interact with cats, as I cannot have them in my home. And nobody makes fun of me for loving to fold laundry for hours on end! :-)
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
The staff and other volunteers have always gone out of their way to help me learn new things, feel appreciated. And there is always a sense of humor to balance the stresses of encountering abuse and maltreatment.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
Expand their mission to serve the physical and emotional needs of the animal clientele even better, and mostly to increase efforts to reduce pet overpopulation through early education and low cost spay/neuter clinics.
Ways to make it better...
I had started volunteering there sooner.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
Having to wait until enough money comes in to realize all the vision they have for improving the human-animal bond and the welfare of both.
One thing I'd also say is that...
I continue to be astounded at all the Shelter gets done ... for animals as well as owners and future owners. Director Andrea is a dynamo in the community, who manages well, delegates appropriately, is a diplomat and laughs easily.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
