Letter of Support for AVHS – The Alliance

Ark-Valley Humane Society is an essential partner organization for The Alliance. AVHS provides free emergency boarding services for pets belonging to clients of the Alliance for up to two weeks and sometimes more, to allow time for clients to figure out new housing solutions and keep their pets.  This emergency pet boarding option is also the reason some people are willing to leave their abusive partners with The Alliance’s assistance, because they know their pet is safely cared for by AVHS.  The services that AVHS provides are essential to our community, and we value them as a partner and all the work they do.

Organizations like The Alliance and Ark Valley Humane Society that provide critical community services have to make difficult decisions that balance a wide variety of factors every day. Nonprofit organizations develop thoughtful, intentional, and comprehensive policies to guide these difficult decisions. Although these decisions can be very painful and unpopular, the creation of and adherence to thoughtful policies and procedures ensure that they are made with the best interests of the client and general public in mind, and in service of the organization’s mission.

We encourage our partners in the media to bear this in mind when preparing coverage of important topics in the community. Certainly nonprofit organizations are not above public scrutiny – on the contrary, as beneficiaries of the public’s investment and trust, we welcome input and accountability from the communities we serve. However, presenting community challenges without the full context surrounding the provision of important services contributes to a culture of suspicion and reactivity that threatens our organization’s ability to fill the gaps in our community’s safety net.

We thank the Chaffee County community for their support and continued trust in the nonprofit community.

Shelley Schreiner

Executive Director, The Alliance