Opportunity Starts at Home - Episode 52: Animal Welfare, Disaster Recovery, and Housing Justice
Guests Christine Kim (My Dog is My Home), Shari Myers (The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies), and Meghan Mertyris (NLIHC's Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition) discuss the current federal landscape for pet-inclusive disaster housing response and recovery. While short-term protections exist, long-term protections and resources for disaster survivors with pets are limited. Expertise from both housing advocates and animal welfare advocates is critical to effectively expand the resources and protections available to survivors and their pets.
Join a Disaster Housing and Recovery Coalition (DHRC) Working Group:https://nlihc.org/disaster-housing-recovery-research-resilience
Learn more about the My Dog is My Home Co-Sheltering Collaborative:https://www.co-shelteringcollaborative.org
Learn more about the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies: https://disasterstrategies.org/
Read the 2026 report on California's Pet Assistance and Support (PAS) program: https://hpri.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/PAS-final-edits__HPRI-1_20.pdf