May Spotlight- The Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland
When the world feels overwhelming, it’s easy to forget how much good is happening close to home. People Helping People is our way of spotlighting the Portlanders who are showing up, making a difference, and reminding us that we all have something to offer. Hope isn’t something we wait for, it’s something we build together, and all across the city, you will find examples of people reminding us that the most powerful force for change is the simple, human act of people helping people.
“We often hear: “I could never work at the shelter! I’d take everyone home!” The temptation is real and we fall in love with pets every day. We see how much love they receive here, and we feel good knowing that they’re with us, getting the support they need.”
-Ingrid Wedberg, Volunteer Program
Interview with Ingrid Wedberg and Shannon Cote, Volunteer Program Team, Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland
For our May People helping People we are highlighting the People helping Animals- gentle creatures that are unable to advocate for themselves. The Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland nurtures the connection between people and pets to advance animal welfare and improve the quality of life in our community.
The ARLGP provides temporary care and shelter for stray, abandoned, confiscated and relinquished animals and helps to find them safe and comfortable homes. In addition to this they create awareness and support for the humane treatment of all animals.
The Office of Economic Opportunity was honored to come together as a group to spend time learning about this organization and caring for these animals Afterwards, we had the opportunity to chat with Ingrid Wedberg and Shannon Cote, the volunteer program team about the incredible work they do supporting our communities animals.
Please share a bit about the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland and the work you do.
At the ARLGP, we provide temporary care and shelter for stray, abandoned, confiscated, and relinquished animals, and place as many pets as possible into responsible, caring homes. We help more than 4000 pets a year through our programming, including admissions (bringing an animal to our shelter), behavioral support via individual training and public dog training courses, medical support through our shelter clinic, and more. We are a high-adoption, open-admission facility. There is no time limit on an animal’s stay in our care. We do everything we can to ensure each animal has the opportunity for a new beginning, and provide them with the care, treatment, and time they require, before they find their new family.
We accept pets for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, destructive or aggressive behavior, an inability to be housetrained, health issues, or because the animal does not get along with children or other pets. We embrace animals who may have health challenges and with a little extra care can be rehomed. Our guiding principle is always quality of life for the animal, even if it is obtained with support from medical treatment or diet. We are very committed to hospice and foster homes, so that each animal receives the love, compassion, and dignity it deserves.
We are fortunate to be valued by a community that supports animals in need, has access to spay/neuter services, and warmly welcomes animals into their loving homes.
What brought you to ARLGP?
After experiencing burnout in our professional careers at different times in our lives, Shannon and I recognized the need to feel more connection to our work that left us fulfilled. Shannon joined the Volunteer program several years before me, and her leadership helped grow the department and the volunteer team, which required another staff member to support. It’s ironic that we had similar career paths and ended up in the same line of work, for the same reasons. Now, I can’t imagine working anywhere else!
One of the friendly and playful pups at the shelter
Can you share a bit about the role volunteers play in your work?
Volunteers are vital to the mission at the ARLGP. From cleaning and feeding our pets to folding laundry to sorting donations, our volunteers provide support for the pets and staff at the shelter. Last year, volunteers donated more than 31,700 hours of service, which is the equivalent of 15 full-time staff members. You can imagine how much our mission would change if we had to hire 15 individuals to do the work of our amazing volunteer team!
What does a typical volunteer shift at ARLGP look like?
Volunteers help us with all aspects of managing the shelter, from animal care to operations to administration. Most shifts are 2-hours long, and each role provides a different kind of support– cleaning kennels or cages, feeding meals, washing and folding laundry, sorting through the donations we received that day. Each shift has a list of chores or tasks for volunteers to complete. For our weekly corporate group volunteers, the projects we complete are above and beyond our day-to-day chores. These groups help us complete projects that our staff may not have time to finish, including gardening, deep cleaning, supply sorting and more.
What is something that gives you hope or inspires you most about the work you do?
We have nearly 400 volunteers who are passionate about helping us care for the pets in the shelter. They respond to a plea for help, fill in when we’re desperate for an extra set of hands, and show up for us in ways that we don’t expect, like delivering our favorite snacks when we’ve had a challenging week, sending emails of appreciation just because. While we sometimes see the darker side of humanity through our work, we’re reminded daily that there wonderful people who love our fur babes like we do. Our volunteers (and foster families) support the shelter, the community and of course, the pets in our care.
Get Involved!
What advice would you give to those interested in volunteering or looking to build and support your community?
We are always looking for volunteers to join our team. We encourage folks to check out our website to learn more about volunteering, and to look at our open shifts. Our priority is to provide consistent support so our shelter’s operations needs are met each day. Folks are sometimes surprised that we don’t offer many evening shifts, or that we don’t accept short-term volunteering like community service. Folks interested in working with the dogs participate in additional training, so they may not be up and running as a dog walker in just a few weeks. Our website offers lots of info about volunteering at the ARLGP, but we’re happy to answer questions if folks email us at volunteer@arlgp.org. Our Foster team is also seeking reliable foster homes where our pets can spend time safely decompressing after a long transport, recovering after surgery, or waiting on the next step of their journey.
How can people support your work?
Donation Drives
A donation drive is a great way for individuals, businesses, schools, clubs and other groups to collect donations for our shelter. Check out our donation drive toolkit for tips and resources on holding your donation drive. https://arlgp.org/donation-drive-toolkit/
Fostering
The ARLGP Foster Program places animals in need of individualized care, treatment, or training into the homes of community members who can provide a relaxing and comfortable home for the animal to rest and recuperate outside of the shelter. Foster animals vary, as do foster families. From newborn kittens to senior dogs- many animals need a break from the shelter atmosphere and environment. Click here to learn more.
Volunteer
We are excited to connect with community members who are as dedicated and enthusiastic about animals as we are. Currently, we have over 275 weekly volunteers who help us with a wide variety of services and programs, both inside and outside the shelter! We offer a variety of volunteering programs to fit the needs of our community members. Click here to learn more.
More ways to stay engaged with the ARLGP:
Attend an event! The ARLGP hosts and attends many events throughout the year, and we greatly benefit from the funds that are raised
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, the “Saturday Morning Mews”
We hope these stories help you remember that no matter who you are or what you care about, there’s a role for everyone in building this community. Reach out to us with your story of #PeopleHelpingPeople or let us know how you’d like to help, and we can help connect you with an opportunity that is right for you!