One of my intentions this season has been to attend events posted on the Frontdoors Calendar that are being hosted by organizations that are new to me. This past December, Lost Our Home Pet Rescue posted their annual “Sit. Stay. Brunch.” event to our website and I was excited to go and learn more about their efforts. What I discovered was an incredible story of kindness and determination. During the economic downturn of 2008, Jodi Polanski was a mortgage banker who found out about a disturbing trend in her community. She kept getting calls from her network of realtors asking if she knew what to do when they discovered a pet had been left behind by the owners of a foreclosed home. These animals were being left for days and weeks before being discovered by someone coming to check on the home or by the local police after a neighbor called to report the abandoned pet. So Polanski and her colleagues went to work to help these forgotten animals. They organized a network of friends, business associates and family members to become foster families for each animal that was left behind. One of the first dogs that was found in desperate need of help was Sweetheart. The team learned she had been left in an abandoned home for about a month. She was weak, dehydrated, covered in ticks and anemic. When a Tempe police officer came to help, she tried to lick him as a sign of affection but her tongue was too dry. They took her straight to a vet where she was nursed for a month and deemed healthy enough to go to a foster home. But the damage was too much to overcome and she passed away shortly after being taken back to the vet’s office. This incident fueled Polanski and her friends to officially launch Lost Our Home Pet Rescue — an organization that helps both pets and people in crisis in an effort to keep them together when the owners are facing financial hardship. While the start to Lost Our Home was defined by the desperation and effects of the second- highest foreclosure rates in the country, the group soon discovered that the need went beyond the rescue efforts. Over the past 10 years, Polanski has led her team to create five unique programs: Andrea Evans | Publisher Pets and people in crisis have options, thanks to Lost Our Home HELPING PEOPLE, SAVING PETS OPEN DOORS { publisher’s page } 48 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | APRIL 2019

@AndreaTEvans Andrea Evans PUBLISHER 1 Temporary Care: Provides 90 days of pet care for people experiencing a life hardship, in hopes of reuniting the pet and owner. 2 Pet Food Bank: Provides pet food and essentials to financially struggling individuals and families so they can keep their pet. 3 Pet Rescue for Abandoned or Owner- Surrendered Pets: Includes medical care, shelter and food while looking for a forever home. 4 Low-Income Boarding: A program for struggling pet parents in need of boarding services. 5 Partnership with Sojourner Center: The organization manages a Pet Companion Shelter on the Sojourner campus so women escaping domestic violence can keep their pets while they heal. The organization has grown steadily year after year and is now completing a capital campaign to completely renovate their building in Tempe. When completed, Lost Our Home will be able to double their capacity for both dogs and cats in need of their shelter services. They have $400,000 left to hit their goal of $2.4 million and will need more foster homes in the East Valley to continue their services while the building is under construction. A generous Arizona resident has established a $100,000 challenge grant to close the funding gap for the building campaign. When completed, they will be able to continue their role as the drop-off location for the Tempe Police Department and also add this service for the Mesa Police as well. My take on this story? Polanski is a problem- solver and Tempe’s own guardian pet angel for not only the pets that are sometimes left behind, but the loving pet owners facing hard times. For more information, visit lostourhome.org . Andrea Eviction, foreclosure, fires, floods … all can force people and pets into unknown territory. Lost Our Home helps in trying times by caring for pets, easing some of the pressure on pet owners. APRIL 2019 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 49