Our Mission: Keeping Pets and Owners Together Through Challenging Times
Mission Statement: Helping Owners with Pet Expenses (H.O.P.E.) is committed to helping keep families and their beloved pets together and prevent them from having to surrender their pets due to difficult times. H.O.P.E.seeks to provide temporary food, care, maintenance and assistance with medical bills to owners of pets that are going through financially tough times. We are a 501(c)(3) incorporated, all-volunteer organization.
Our Commitment To Service: We seek to provide temporary pet food assistance with donations from our pet food pantry. We also seek to provide medical care for pets when pet owners are faced with unexpected medical problems in which not treating the animal would result in serious injury or illness.
In most cases, we will not approve spay/neuters, vaccines and routine exams. We also do not approve already incurred vet bills. We want to help the person who is faced with a temporary crisis and otherwise would have nowhere to turn to ensure the health of their pet.
Recent statistics show that the number one reason pets are surrendered is foreclosure and the second is due to the cost of pet maintenance. We hope that someday in the future we are able to start a spay/neuter fund or offer discount rabies vaccines to the community. In the meantime, we have to have a more narrow focus until we have the resources for additional services.
We serve Grand Traverse county only at this time for our pet food pantry. However, for vet care, we will take applications from the counties of: Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Kalkaska, Antrim and Wexford.
GUIDELINES FOR APPROVAL:
1. MUST LIVE IN ONE OF THE COUNTIES LISTED ABOVE
2. We do not help with spay and neutering (unless it is a medical reason or the pet will have to be surrendered if not neutered, or due to behavior problems). We do not assist with vaccinations or routine worming etc.
3. We assist with sick, or injured, pets in pain or if you can't get them to the veterinary you will have to relinquish them in order to get them medical attention.
4. Low income, poverty level, Senior Citizens on a fixed income, disabled pet parents, or situations that have suddenly lowered your income like being laid off, losing job, unemployment ran out, unforeseen costs that were not expected.
5. Requirements for our pet food pantry are not as strict, but you will be asked what has happened recently that you are in need of help with pet food. The Pet Food Pantry number is (231) 590-8133.
We try to help people that have been responsible pet owners and have had financial difficulties that make them suddenly in need of help. However, our main concern is the pets.
6. We do not help with stray cats or newly acquired pets that you cannot afford.
7. You need to have proof of your income unless it is a recent situation, which you must explain.
8. If you are misleading or give untruthful information on the application you will be exempt from receiving assistance.
HOPE IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS HELPED TO DATE:
TOTAL NUMBER OF ANIMALS HELPED WITH FOOD: 235
TOTAL NUMBER OF POUNDS OF FOOD DISTRIBUTED: 4617.2 POUNDS
TOTAL NUMBER OF ANIMALS HELPED (VET CARE): 153
(the numbers are always increasing so at any particular time we may be off on our numbers)
Our Commitment To Service: We seek to provide temporary pet food assistance with donations from our pet food pantry. We also seek to provide medical care for pets when pet owners are faced with unexpected medical problems in which not treating the animal would result in serious injury or illness.
In most cases, we will not approve spay/neuters, vaccines and routine exams. We also do not approve already incurred vet bills. We want to help the person who is faced with a temporary crisis and otherwise would have nowhere to turn to ensure the health of their pet.
Recent statistics show that the number one reason pets are surrendered is foreclosure and the second is due to the cost of pet maintenance. We hope that someday in the future we are able to start a spay/neuter fund or offer discount rabies vaccines to the community. In the meantime, we have to have a more narrow focus until we have the resources for additional services.
We serve Grand Traverse county only at this time for our pet food pantry. However, for vet care, we will take applications from the counties of: Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Kalkaska, Antrim and Wexford.
GUIDELINES FOR APPROVAL:
1. MUST LIVE IN ONE OF THE COUNTIES LISTED ABOVE
2. We do not help with spay and neutering (unless it is a medical reason or the pet will have to be surrendered if not neutered, or due to behavior problems). We do not assist with vaccinations or routine worming etc.
3. We assist with sick, or injured, pets in pain or if you can't get them to the veterinary you will have to relinquish them in order to get them medical attention.
4. Low income, poverty level, Senior Citizens on a fixed income, disabled pet parents, or situations that have suddenly lowered your income like being laid off, losing job, unemployment ran out, unforeseen costs that were not expected.
5. Requirements for our pet food pantry are not as strict, but you will be asked what has happened recently that you are in need of help with pet food. The Pet Food Pantry number is (231) 590-8133.
We try to help people that have been responsible pet owners and have had financial difficulties that make them suddenly in need of help. However, our main concern is the pets.
6. We do not help with stray cats or newly acquired pets that you cannot afford.
7. You need to have proof of your income unless it is a recent situation, which you must explain.
8. If you are misleading or give untruthful information on the application you will be exempt from receiving assistance.
HOPE IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS HELPED TO DATE:
TOTAL NUMBER OF ANIMALS HELPED WITH FOOD: 235
TOTAL NUMBER OF POUNDS OF FOOD DISTRIBUTED: 4617.2 POUNDS
TOTAL NUMBER OF ANIMALS HELPED (VET CARE): 153
(the numbers are always increasing so at any particular time we may be off on our numbers)
We Believe in Care and Compassion for Pets
H.O.P.E. is a non-profit organization. We rely on your donations, as without your continued help, our success would be impossible. We do our best to use most of the dollars raised for direct care. (Food Pantry, veterinary care etc.) Only a small amount of funds are used for operational costs.
We always strive to keep pets with their families so they do not have to be put up for adoption or taken to a shelter. If you want to read a story that tells the reason our founder started H.O.P.E., then go to the blog on this website and read about Bob and his dog Ruzzie Rue. You may need a box of tissues.
We always strive to keep pets with their families so they do not have to be put up for adoption or taken to a shelter. If you want to read a story that tells the reason our founder started H.O.P.E., then go to the blog on this website and read about Bob and his dog Ruzzie Rue. You may need a box of tissues.
H.O.P.E. story of the week
Kelly Schmidt and her collie Cedar
Last year, Kelly Schmidt, a struggling artist from Thompsonville, had a difficult decision to make: She could pay her home mortgage, or shell out hundreds of dollars for her dog, Cedar, to have surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor on her neck.
“I was stressed out financially and emotionally,” says Schmidt. “I had no clue what I was going to do.”
That’s when an employee at her veterinarian’s office told her about H.O.P.E., aka Helping Owners with Pet Expenses. She told H.O.P.E. she had always been able to care for her animals and thought nothing of taking them to the veterinarian's when needed, but since the economic downfall she was struggling to pay her bills. Kelly is exactly the type of pet owners we help. Those who, due to difficult circumstances, find caring for unexpected expenses for their animals just too much to come up with. Our main goal is to prevent owners from having to surrender their beloved animals.
“I was stressed out financially and emotionally,” says Schmidt. “I had no clue what I was going to do.”
That’s when an employee at her veterinarian’s office told her about H.O.P.E., aka Helping Owners with Pet Expenses. She told H.O.P.E. she had always been able to care for her animals and thought nothing of taking them to the veterinarian's when needed, but since the economic downfall she was struggling to pay her bills. Kelly is exactly the type of pet owners we help. Those who, due to difficult circumstances, find caring for unexpected expenses for their animals just too much to come up with. Our main goal is to prevent owners from having to surrender their beloved animals.
SUCCESS STORIES
Here are some great pets that H.O.P.E. was able to help when they needed food. These furry friends say THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to H.O.P.E. to help them and their friends.
Pictured here is Stitch
Pictured here is Stitch
Rainbow (calico cat); Lumumba, the African Grey parrot;
Tito the kitty (who has kidney disease) and Pancho (black and white cat)
Tito the kitty (who has kidney disease) and Pancho (black and white cat)
H.O.P.E. HELPS DIESEL ESCAPE FROM ANIMAL CONTROL AND FIND A HOME
DIESEL FINDS A HOME
On Monday, March 28, 2012, Debbra Miner, one of H.O.P.E.'s board members called with a dilemma. Ed from Grand Traverse Animal Control called to say an American Bull Dog had been dropped off as a stray and the Humane Society has procedures that will not allow them to except intact males (meaning he had not been neutered).
Ed comes in contact with dogs on a daily basis in his job and told Deb that he was a very nice dog and he didn't want anything to happen to him. Deb told Ed that our organization normally doesn't help with neutering but have talked about making exceptions when it means saving the life of a dog. She suggested that he should call H.O.P.E's Director, Susan Reabe.
To make a long story short, Diesel (as his owner now calls him) was saved from the possibility of being euthanized and he was neutered after the Board of H.O.P.E. approved the assistance that he needed. This sweet, well mannered dog didn't even make it out of the vet clinic during his emergency neuter and vaccinations before he was adopted by Shana Crouse. Diesel now has a new sister, a miniature Dachshund - they are best buddies.
H.O.P.E. will be reviewing their policies and procedures for certain cases of assistance needed for homeless dogs. Sometimes it's too late to help the actual pet owner - but not the pet itself. It takes a number of people and phone calls in the organization to make a difference. It takes a village - a village called H.O.P.E.
On Monday, March 28, 2012, Debbra Miner, one of H.O.P.E.'s board members called with a dilemma. Ed from Grand Traverse Animal Control called to say an American Bull Dog had been dropped off as a stray and the Humane Society has procedures that will not allow them to except intact males (meaning he had not been neutered).
Ed comes in contact with dogs on a daily basis in his job and told Deb that he was a very nice dog and he didn't want anything to happen to him. Deb told Ed that our organization normally doesn't help with neutering but have talked about making exceptions when it means saving the life of a dog. She suggested that he should call H.O.P.E's Director, Susan Reabe.
To make a long story short, Diesel (as his owner now calls him) was saved from the possibility of being euthanized and he was neutered after the Board of H.O.P.E. approved the assistance that he needed. This sweet, well mannered dog didn't even make it out of the vet clinic during his emergency neuter and vaccinations before he was adopted by Shana Crouse. Diesel now has a new sister, a miniature Dachshund - they are best buddies.
H.O.P.E. will be reviewing their policies and procedures for certain cases of assistance needed for homeless dogs. Sometimes it's too late to help the actual pet owner - but not the pet itself. It takes a number of people and phone calls in the organization to make a difference. It takes a village - a village called H.O.P.E.
