PetSmart Promise, our partnership with PetSmart to offer homeless families options to keep their pets while they work towards financial independence, continues to garner national recognition. The Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness featured the initiative in a recent issue of UNCENSORED, their organizational publication.
“…organizations across the country are stepping up to help keep homeless families together—including their pets. ‘We recognized that for the vast majority of families experiencing homelessness, if they want to receive services, they are not going to be able to keep their pets,’ explains Claas Ehlers, Director, Affiliate Services for Family Promise, a Summit, New Jersey-based nonprofit operating nationally that helps homeless and low-income families through a variety of programs. ‘We recognized that was an area we could have a specific impact on.’
The PetSmart Promise program offers different options based on the needs of the family and the limitations of the Family Promise Affiliate they are working with. The program offers on-site pet sanctuaries, free off-site boarding at PetsHotels, or a pet-fostering program for Affiliates without access to a sanctuary or PetsHotel. By the end of 2015, PetSmart will have created 12 pet sanctuaries at affiliated sites across the country—ensuring that not only can families keep their pets; they will be able to interact with them every day.”
Your can read the entire story here.
