| 20 | FURRY FRIENDS 2023 Meeting the Challenge Lost Our Home Pet Rescue expands impact across Arizona BY TOM EVANS NEXT DOORS “Oh God, so much has changed.” That’s how Jodi Polanski, the founder and executive director of Lost Our Home Pet Rescue, describes the past few years. Some of that change is for the good; some not so much. Lost Our Home was founded as a no-kill shelter in 2008 by Polanski, a former mortgage broker who witnessed people losing their homes in the fallout of the housing crisis. The work extended beyond people who were unfortunate in the real estate market to those in the kinds of crisis that might lead them to abandon their pets. So when 2020 rolled around, Polanski and her team saw many of the same challenges they saw in 2008. And as the pandemic slowed, the foreclosures seen in 2008 were mirrored by the evictions of 2021 and 2022. “We haven’t seen as many abandoned pets this time

FURRY FRIENDS 2023 | 21 | around, but there are a lot of stray pets right now,” she said. “People are just letting the dogs and cats loose outside, versus leaving them in homes.” But Lost Our Home was nimble enough to get through the pandemic by expanding its foster programs and identifying ways to integrate itself into the community. As a result, it’s now enjoying a couple of significant growth opportunities. First, they are taking a formerly leased space in their Tempe building and constructing a 4,000-square-foot pet clinic, allowing them to care for animals in-house as well as providing a new resource for pet owners in the community that may not be able to afford full vet care and training. “It’ll be really great because right now, we have to load up all our pets into a van and transfer them to a veterinarian a few times a week,” Polanski said. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of stress on the animals, so having our own clinic will alleviate all of that.” Once capacity ramps up at the clinic, the plan is to launch services such as low-cost pet vaccine clinics, pet training and dental care for the public, areas that are a significant need in the community. But the biggest opportunity is on the open road. Lost Our Home and partner agencies Arizona Pet Project and Heidi’s Village just received a $1.5 million grant from the State of Arizona to take their programs and services statewide, including into rural and disadvantaged communities. “We’ll be taking our temporary care program statewide, and we’re also going to be starting a daycare for the first time — like a day-boarding program for people who are homeless. But if they want to go to work, for example, there’s a place to bring their pet,” Polanski said. Lost Our Home has also had a particular focus on working with victims of domestic violence, including partnerships with Sojourner Center and A New Leaf, both