Today we’d like to introduce you to Marge Janiak.
Hi Marge, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet© incorporated in the state of Arkansas on 28 January, 2005 after founders Linda Spurlin-Dominik and Carol Olmedo learned that military service members across the country had pets that needed a caring and safe home to care for them during the pet owner’s deployment or an unforeseen hardship situation, but had not been able to find someone to care for them. This left the deploying heroes or veterans with only one option, which was to legally surrender their pets and pet ownership rights to an animal shelter or rescue group never to see their pets again, know if they got a new good home, or ended up being euthanized.
January 2010, Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet filed with the Texas Sec of State as a “Foreign non-profit operating in the state of TX” and after purchasing acreage in Coryell County (approx. 14 miles west of Fort Hood) in June 2010, the organization moved its “Day-to-Day National Operations” to the property located at 9725 FM 1783, Gatesville TX 76528.
We are an ALL Volunteer organization. All donations received by GAfSP are allocated towards the costs of helping with administrative costs and paying for veterinary services such as vaccines, spaying/neutering, and boarding costs.
We are now celebrating 20 years of assisting deploying soldiers and veterans! We are a nation wide Military Service organization and we find foster homes for the pets of deploying military service members and/or for veterans who are hospitalized, in treatment, or whom are homeless. As of 2 years ago, we also added First Responders who are called to leave their home operations to go elsewhere to fight a natural disaster or assist the military at the border. We are very proud to know that we have assisted thousands of soldiers and veterans to keep their beloved pets while not being able to care for them themselves.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When we first began, our organization was extremely busy, assisting military service members to find foster families to care for their beloved pets while they were deployed. Veterans had the same needs while they were hospitalized, in treatment or that were homeless. This was during the Desert Storm and Iraqi war years.
Since the wars ended, we stayed moderately busy, but in the last 10 years or more without any wars, the need has switched to veterans needing our programs more than the military. We lost many foster homes because the public seems to have forgotten or stopped caring about the military. Lives changed… foster homes moved, or stopped wanting to be a foster home for a variety of reasons, and we lost many of our volunteers since there wasn’t as much need for our services, so not much for our volunteers to do.
Last December, our founder and CEO, Linda Spurling Dominik, passed away. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we find ourselves reinventing the organization. We have a whole new Board of Directors who are very excited to get the word out that GAfSP is still here and more than ever dedicated to having our programs available for those in need. Our client base has changed from mostly deploying soldiers to mostly veterans! We are working daily with case workers from the VA to private hospitals on behalf of their veterans, and working with the VA to find foster homes for the veterans’ pets while the veterans stay in shelters until housing is found for them. We are constantly working to find more foster homes throughout the United States to give our clients more choices on who cares for their pets. We have added First Responders who are going away from their home bases to fight natural disasters or assist the military at our borders.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet?
While there are other organizations that assist military service members with finding a foster home for their pets, we are the ONLY organization that assists Generally or Honorably discharged veterans with their needs for foster homes. If a veteran has to be hospitalized for a medical reason, or put into treatment for alcohol/drug addiction or for PTSD, or if the veteran is homeless, we assist them to find a foster home to care for their beloved pets while they are incapacitated. We are very proud to be able to assist the men and women who gave up so much of themselves to fight for their country!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
People can support us in three ways. First, we need foster homes throughout the United States. We are constantly needing new foster homes because people move, get divorced, or circumstances in their lives stop them from being a foster home. Here in Texas, we have a great need for foster homes in the Ft. Hood and Ft. Bliss areas, Houston and San Antonio.
Secondly, donations are the only “income” we generate. None of the volunteers at GAfSP get paid. A small portion goes towards Administrative needs, with the most of our donations going to assist the pets to be vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and for boarding when a foster home cannot be found.
Last but definitely not least, we are always needing volunteers to assist us as Foster Home Liaisons, Outreach Liaisons, Administrative Assistants, etc. All volunteers are remote workers meaning they can be anywhere in the US. The hours are usually 10-15 hours a week or less depending on what the volunteer is doing and can be performed at any time (some volunteer work must be done during business hours and evenings).
Pricing:
- All services are free
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gafsp.org
- Facebook: Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet (Page & Group)
Image Credits
All photos credited to Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet
