Statements
Mission
SAFPAW has a dual mission; that of partnering with those who are homeless & those who are housed but live at or below the poverty level and their companion animals. For the animals our most critical program is our weekly Spay/Neuter transport that is free of charge to those we serve. We pick up all over Nashville, and bring each animal back fixed, completely vaccinated, dewormed, treated for fleas, and with a bag of pet food plus the paperwork & rabies tag. We also assist with yearly vaccines plus minor veterinary care, pet food, collars & leashes plus food/water bowls.
For the people we assist our main program is Perian's Place, our sanctuary & sober living house. Currently we house 3 people, however we are hoping to one day soon move (with financial partnership) from our current location to a larger house in the Madison area. Our current SAFPAW/Perian's Place is paid for, so your donations will allow us to sell this place and put the proceeds from the sale of our current place into a property that will help even more animals and people. SAFPAW/Perian's Place also fosters animals surrendered to us and once in our care they are fixed & vaccinated and then enter into the adoption program of one of our rescue partners. The people living at Perian's Place assist in their care along with volunteers. They must either work part time or be on disability, and also work on their recovery, attend classes as they may be directed, and work towards permanent housing with our assistance.
We also assist people experiencing homelessness in recovering their 3 forms of ID; State ID, Social Security Card and Birth Certificate. SAFPAW also provides camping supplies, bus passes & fast food gift cards as they are available. We assist in the entire housing process, from the camps to a home.
SAFPAW also has a food pantry for people & pets. In March of 2020 when the pandemic hit we began delivering sandwich meals every Saturday and we are up to serving between 150-200 meals weekly.
Background
SAFPAW was the 1st animal welfare organization to bring a spay/neuter clinic that we ran in our capacity as a non-profit to our Davidson County. SAFPAW worked with RAM (Remote Area Medical) back in 1998 to bring animal welfare run s/n clinics and we held 4 clinics total that ran flawlessly. We introduced the concept of animal welfare groups owning & operating spay/neuter clinics to Nashville. In addition, we were the 1st non-profit to go into Tent City in 2001. Tent City was Nashville's oldest & largest homeless encampment. It was here at the original Tent City that our mission to help both the animals and the people living there began. SAFPAW believes in a holistic approach to each family seeking our help. That family is the sum of its members, both the animals and the humans making up its whole. We are currently the only agency in Davidson County that serves both animals and people in this capacity.
Impact
SAFPAW officially launched SAFPAW/Perian's Place in 2015, and we are currently housing 3 people. We offer a safe sanctuary where people can work recover from the streets, live in a home, and work towards a place of their own. We also serve as a resource center, so that people experiencing homelessness in the Madison/Rivergate/East Nashville/Goodlettsville/Old Hickory area can receive mail here, get supplies from, and also a meal and a shower (as a result of COVID meals are served outside or "to go" and showers are not offered at this time). We still work to keep those still living in homeless camps alive through the supplies we take out several times a month, more often when weather is extremely cold or hot. We also work with people that we assist in obtaining their 3 necessary forms of ID; their State ID, Social Security Card and their Birth Certificate. For animals, our weekly Spay/Neuter & Veterinary Care Transport that is free to those we serve is still going strong after 21 years. This transport provides not only spay/neuter but also vaccinations, deworm, and treatment for fleas. They are returned with their veterinary paperwork and a bag of pet food. In addition we assist those we serve with keeping their companion animals current on their yearly vaccinations plus necessary items such as leashes, collars, food/water bowls, and outdoor shelters/dog houses. Our primary goal that we hope to meet in the next couple of years is to sell our current Perian's Place and move to a larger home in the Madison area where we can serve more people and animals. We will also continue to grow with the number of surrendered animals that we can foster, fix and move into the adoption program of one of our rescue partners. The people living at Perian's Place, along with our team of volunteers, assist in caring for these animals, giving them another chance. That concept, people taking their chance to begin again and in turn helping abandoned animals with the same chance, it is this concept that has been the goal of SAFPAW from the beginning. Perian's Place will continue to grow, offering a place to live that only asks for folks to have a part time job (unless they are on disability) while staying there in addition to continuing on with recovery & life skills classes as needed. Throughout 2021, we will be looking for houses in the Madison area that will allow for Perian's Place to grow. The sale of our current place will go towards the purchase of a new place, your donations will allow us to purchase a bigger home plus go towards making it not only the best street recovery house it can be but also a sanctuary for the people and animals living there.
Needs
SAFPAW needs experienced board members willing to roll up their sleeves and help us with ongoing fund raising and experienced board members that know how to promote an organization.
We also need volunteers that can take on a task or even an entire program and make it their own. Volunteers who are willing to make deliveries of pet food or food boxes for people, as well as camping supplies. We need volunteer(s) who can take on projects such as the transport to and from of dogs and cats needing basic wellness care from one of our veterinary partners.
CEO Statement
SAFPAW is truly a non-profit in the trenches. We believe that you cannot truly live your mission unless you know who you are helping. Our mission is to serve, help and change the lives of the homeless animals and people we serve. People in poverty and their pets. So we go to them, we seek them out. We believe in working from the ground up in order to help. In helping the pets we believe first of all they need to be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and dewormed. Then they need an appropriate diet and basic pet care needs. As for the people we serve, ultimately they need a place to call home. But you have to start at the beginning. They must have all of their ID (birth certificate, SS card & state ID or TDL). Without ID they can receive no services at all. Then if they are homeless due to mental illness or addictions, this must be addressed. The goal is not to solve all of their issues, but rather to introduce them to the resources they need to begin climbing out of homelessness so that they are not being set-up to just fail again. Then we work on helping them put all of the resources together they need so that they have a team, ready to help in the specific area that each non-profit serves. An individual non-profit can never serve every need faced by animals and their humans......but if we serve together then we are a very powerful team that can address pretty much every issue faced. That is the goal I have and what SAFPAW works towards every morning when we open our door and when we hit the road.
Board Chair Statement
The biggest challenge that SAFPAW faces as we grow is how to keep up with the needs presented to us by the animals & people we serve. We are constantly seeking to expand our reach to more donors and more foundations. I believe that SAFPAW is a most unique grassroots organization with our 1-on-1 approach. We seek out those that are falling through the cracks, those who are invisible. I know that how we are carrying out our mission is working because those we help refer others experiencing homelessness to us. When I go into a camp and hear someone explaining to someone that their pet should be fixed, and that they need to call Miss Laurie, when I hear what I said to them in the past repeated to someone new I know that my efforts to educate are working. When an agency calls us to tap into our expertise, I know that we have the respect of our peers. Yet as I always say, without a solid financial base all the good intentions in the world are little more than words on paper. We can hit the streets and care, but to make a difference takes donations. So we continue to research additional foundations, write more grants, and introduce ourselves to more donors who had not yet met our amazingly unique organization.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Animal Related - Animal Protection & Welfare |
| Secondary Category: | Animal Related - Animal Protection & Welfare |
| Tertiary Category: | Human Services - Homeless Services/Centers |
Areas Served
We primarily serve Nashville, Davidson county. However since we are located in Goodlettsville, we do assist people and pets in Sumner County, primarily the Hendersonville area.
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Davidson |
