Special guests from Representative Brad Wenstrup and Senator JD Vance’s Office attended the Open House to show support for keeping people and animals together in times of crisis
August 4, 2023
Cincinnati, OH: On August 4th, 2023 My Dog Is My Home, a non-profit that advocates for access to shelter and housing for people experiencing homelessness with their companion animals, hosted a Co-Sheltering Collaborative Open House with Found House Interfaith Housing Network. Animal welfare organizations and homeless services providers came together to learn about Found House’s newly opened, fully pet-inclusive supportive housing program and Pet Support Program. Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02) and Senator JD Vance’s (R-OH) offices also attended the Open House to support pet-inclusive policies and programs.
Restrictive pet policies in shelters and affordable housing are a barrier to essential services. People experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity will often delay or refuse needed services to avoid living without their companion animal. Others are forced to surrender their pets to animal shelters, causing stress to the family and to already overcrowded animal shelters. My Dog Is My Home highlighted Found House’s model and programs as an example of pet-inclusive homelessness and housing services for other providers to follow.
During the open house, My Dog Is My Home’s Founder, Christine Kim, spoke about the Providing for Unhoused People with Pets Act, or the PUPP Act, which is currently making its way through Congress. This Act would establish a $5 million grant program per fiscal year from 2024 - 2028 that would support emergency shelter or permanent supportive housing providers in expanding their animal accommodations. Kim explained, “People need their pets for emotional support. This bill supports the human-animal bond and helps people stay with their animals when they need them the most. My Dog Is My Home thanks Representative Wenstrup and Senator Vance for recognizing the importance of animals in the lives of people recovering from trauma, including our nation’s homeless veterans.”
In addition to the pet-inclusive supportive housing program Found House opened in April 2023, they have been operating the Pet Support Program for nearly a decade. The Pet Support Program provides temporary boarding for animals whose owners are seeking emergency shelter, medical care, or rehabilitation services. Found House’s Pet Support Program also provides pet food and veterinary care resources to low income pet owners.
“When a single Dad and his teenage son came to shelter after living in their truck with their dog, they asked, do we really have to give him up, to get help? He’s been with us for 13 years and he is family. Of course, the answer was no. We could not serve families and tell them which members counted, and which did not. Not with any integrity. From housing that dog in a staff office, our Pet Support Program was born.”
The Open House Cincinnati was generously sponsored by Maddie's Fund®, #ThanksToMaddie, and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
About My Dog Is My Home: My Dog Is My Home, a national nonprofit organization, is dedicated to increasing access to shelter and housing for people experiencing homelessness with companion animals. My Dog Is My Home assists service providers like homeless shelters expand their programming to allow humans and their companion animals to remain together.
About Found House Interfaith Housing Network: Found House Interfaith Housing Network provides homeless families emergency shelter and hospitality through interfaith communities and works with families to find and retain stable housing. Established in 2014, the Pet Support Program is a pet shelter embedded into Found House IHN’s social service center providing a coordinated network of care for people and pets experiencing the crisis of homelessness, or related crisis, with the central goal to keep people and their pets safe and together.
Photos by Julie Gould of Bright Eyes Photos.
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