By Savannah Verdon, Development Manager –
These are some of the circumstances that survivors and their families find themselves in when their domestic violence shelter advocate applies for a RedRover Relief Safe Escape grant:
“This is not Blair’s first time trying to leave her abusive husband of twenty-plus years. She has been stuck in the cycle of violence for the length of their marriage. Blair has started working as a traffic flagger, but with the cost of raising her 14-year-old daughter and rent, she would really like to save her money for a house to finally escape her domestic violence situation, since our program is only 30 days. The last incident was when she was staying in a hotel that allowed dogs. He found out their location, and it was no longer safe for them there. This essentially left Blair, her daughter, and the dogs homeless. Tootie* is the daughter’s dog that her boyfriend had gotten for her. Tootie had puppies around 7 weeks ago; Because of the age of the puppies, Blair and our shelter have struggled to find places that will board the puppies. Most of the boarding places here do not allow dogs that young.
“Blair’s daughter is specifically attached to the dogs. She said that they mean everything to her. She was reluctant to even come to the shelter because she knew that we did not have the means to house the dogs. The dogs have really helped her through what is going on between her parents.”
As her advocate described, Blair had tried more than once to leave the abuse behind while keeping her daughter safe. Tootie the Chihuahua was a welcome comfort for her daughter, but her arrival, plus her two puppies, made it more challenging for the family to find shelter, leaving them all vulnerable. The whole family would need protection, and all three dogs needed to be vaccinated before they could be boarded. For Blair, there were two obstacles she just wasn’t in a position to confront alone.
Blair and her advocate finally found a veterinary boarding facility that generously offered to board the puppies at a discounted rate after getting them caught up on their bordetella, DAPP, and rabies vaccinations. Their Safe Escape grant would not only cover the cost of boarding for the full 30 days Blair needed to get back on her feet, but would also pay for all of the vaccinations, giving her one less thing to worry about at a difficult time. Now, the dogs could be healthy, and the whole family could be safe. When asked what a Safe Escape grant had meant for this family, their advocate shared:
“It meant that they were able to leave a dangerous situation without having to fear for their dogs. The client and her daughter consider Tootie, Toto*, and Chief* to be their family, and if they were not safe, there was no way that the client would have been able to feel safe. While trying to gain self-sufficiency from an abusive situation, the expense for boarding was not something they could provide, and it was an incredible comfort to know the dogs were being well taken care of and safe while the client worked on creating a stable environment to bring them back to.
“Our shelter does not have the means to board pets on the property, so when the client and her daughter came to the door in tears, carrying three dogs after fleeing a dangerous situation, we as advocates knew we had to help them find a solution that would protect their four-legged family members as well. Our client was extremely grateful when we explained RedRover’s grant program. Once we were able to confirm that RedRover would be covering the cost of boarding to keep their animals safe, the look of relief and the clear weight taken off their shoulders was indescribable. Thank you so much for providing this assistance and support for our client!”
Never forget that when a survivor or an advocate thanks RedRover for keeping a family safe, they’re thanking you for your compassion and generosity. We’re grateful for every family we can protect together. Thank you!
*Names have been changed to protect privacy