Lakeshore PAWS celebrated a milestone earlier this year. The Valparaiso nonprofit marked its 10-year anniversary serving homeless and in-need dogs in the community. Starting in a small building that was quickly outgrown before moving to its current location off of Evans Ave., Lakeshore PAWS has continued to grow and be a haven for dogs and anyone looking for their forever friend.
The nonprofit wouldn’t be where it is today without the help of its dedicated, hardworking volunteers. No matter how long they’ve been with Lakeshore PAWS, its volunteers have provided precious time and energy in their years serving the nonprofit. As Lakeshore PAWS celebrates its tenth anniversary and looks forward to its beloved Pup Crawl at Valparaiso’s Central Park Plaza on Saturday, July 31, its volunteers continue to be a vital component of the nonprofit’s success.
Meet just a few of the volunteers who make Lakeshore PAWS what it is.
Jen Weeks
Jen Weeks remembers the first dog to ever come into Lakeshore PAWS’ foster dog hospice program, now called the Fospice Program. Ralphie, an older dog with medical issues and not a lot of time left, came to the nonprofit from the Porter County Animal Shelter in need of care and love.
“He was 36 pounds when he should have been an 80-pound dog,” said Weeks, who has since become the Fospice Program director. “He came right to my home, and for three weeks, didn’t leave my side. He came with me everywhere I went; if Ralphie wasn’t allowed inside a store, I didn’t shop there.”
The Fospice Program was born out of a need to provide sick and senior dogs a chance to live out the rest of their lives in a comfortable home instead of inside a kennel. When Ralphie lived with Weeks and her family, she began posting photos of the senior dog and Weeks’ young daughter to Facebook, where it garnered a lot of attention and interest into the older dogs.
“It showed how even though he only lived for another couple of weeks, Ralphie had the time of his life,” Weeks said. “Even though he was so thin and wasn’t able to keep food down, he actually gained weight because he was in a home and wasn’t stressed out like he was in the shelter.”
The program has grown since Lakeshore PAWS and Weeks brought in Ralphie. At first, Weeks would bring in a dog and search for a potential adopter. Now, since interest in older dogs has grown, dogs in Weeks’ care are adopted within a few days, sometimes as short as 24 hours.
“It’s become a huge success,” she said. “We take in dogs with all kinds of conditions: advanced cancer, heart conditions, to even just old age. Everyone has perked up when in a home. That predictability and comfort of a home really turns their lives around. We’ve had dogs be on death’s doorstep that ended up living another one to two years.”
Weeks has fostered 73 sick and senior dogs since joining the nonprofit seven years ago. She loves the work she does with Lakeshore PAWS and has even encouraged her daughter to be a part of the fospice process.
“My daughter has been fantastic,” Weeks said. “People worry about her because we do lose a lot of dogs, but she has always had the best outlook on it. She is here to help these dogs, and while she is obviously upset when we lose a dog, her whole focus is on making their last days as best as could be.”
Jessica Gnemi
A seven-and-a-half-year veteran with Lakeshore PAWS, Jessica Gnemi is in charge of all of the deep cleaning throughout the building.
“I take care of all the deep cleaning as far as setting up of all the protocols to keep the building clean and how to keep it safe for us, the community, and the dogs,” Gnemi said. “I make sure the kennels are clean, the building is clean, and, with situations like COVID-19, the building is up to par on those standards.”
A jack-of-all-trades, she also lends a hand for the nonprofit’s adoption and fundraising events.
“I had always wanted to get involved with a rescue, so when I heard about Lakeshore PAWS through friends, I checked it out and fell in love with it,” she said. “Seven-and-a-half-years later, I’m still here.”
When it comes to volunteering at a rescue, many wouldn’t think of cleaning. But Gnemi and her team do this work simply because they love it.
“There’s not many volunteers that love to do that kind of work,” she said. “We have a team that cleans and stays up to date on what needs to get done, especially when staff doesn’t have the time or manpower to clean. It’s a lot of work, but it’s good work.”
Gnemi emphasized the community she has found at the nonprofit and the work they do together to be of service in the community.
“We have incredible volunteers who do great work with the dogs and finding homes for them,” she said. “We all work really well together because we are all working towards a common goal.”
Jerry Land
Jerry Land has been with Lakeshore PAWS since 2015. Like many other volunteers, Land was introduced to the nonprofit when he was looking to adopt a dog.
“I adopted a dog named Nellie, who’s six-years-old now,” Land said. “I got her after losing a dog to cancer. After adopting Nellie, I realized I wanted to be a part of this nonprofit.”
His main focus is on outside maintenance, doing everything from snow removal in the winter, mowing the grass, and trimming the runs, keeping the outside of the nonprofit tidy and clean.
Land also helps with the dog meet and greets. When a potential adopter has another dog at home, Lakeshore PAWS encourages a meet and greet between the dogs to make sure that the home is a good a fit.
“It’s a rewarding experience,” Land said. “You fall in love with the dogs, then you get to see them meet their new families, meet new dogs, and get to go to their forever home.”
Land emphasized the importance of meet and greets before bringing a dog into a home with another dog.
“You need to make sure it’s a good fit and that both dogs are comfortable and feel safe,” he said. “It’s an important part of the adoption process and lets us help adopters in that process.”
Pam and Ken Snow
Couple Pam and Ken Snow began working with Lakeshore PAWS back when it was at its old location, and for over seven years, they have fully enjoyed their time connecting the community to dogs in need.
The Snows both run the Junior PAWS program. Both teachers by trade, getting the program off the ground and kids excited about volunteering came naturally.
“We love helping families find dogs and dogs find families,” Pam Snow said. “We’ve been doing it for four or five years, and it’s been a great way for kids to have the opportunity to volunteer at Lakeshore PAWS.”
Kids aged five and older are able to volunteer with the program, which meets once a month to do education and safety training about dogs and kid-appropriate chores around the building.
“It’s a great way for kids to learn that it’s fun to volunteer, it’s fun to give back,” Pam Snow said. “For a few years, we had a camp for little ones called Camp Puppy Paws for preschoolers, since that’s what I teach.”
“We will be starting up again once the school year starts, since we took a break due to COVID-19,” Ken Snow said. “
Ken Snow also helps with the dog training and meet and greets between family dogs and adoptees.
“Once someone has selected a dog, if they already have one at home, it’s important that they bring that dog in for a meet and greet,” he said. “We take them outside, do a nose-to-nose greeting, and see how they react to that. If they’re okay, we take them in the run and see how they do there. We try to give them enough time to get adjusted, around 30 minutes.”
When bringing their new dog home, families are given an idea of what challenges they may come across and are hooked up with a trainer if needed. The meet and greets have been successful and establishes trust between the family, their new dog, and the nonprofit.
“If families need something, we have trainers and behavior specialists to offer support so it’s a good fit for the family and for the dog,” Ken Snow said. “Our goal is for the dogs to be in a good home, so we want to help in any way we can to make this transition a smooth one.”
Emily Johnson and Loretta Juskiw
Affectionately known as Thelma and Louis at Lakeshore PAWS, Emily Johnson and Loretta Juskiw are a powerhouse team that helps to run the fundraising and adoption events. Johnson has been with the nonprofit for six years, while Juskiw has been for five years.
The team does a lot of offsite adoption events. Most recently, they did a BINGO fundraising event and raffled off gift baskets and other special items to raise money for the nonprofit. At events like the Pup Crawl, Johnson and Juskiw work the information booth to help people through the process of adopting a dog.
“Other volunteers will bring the dogs and we’re there as ambassadors for Lakeshore PAWS to talk about what the nonprofit does, answer questions about adopting, and what the process is like,” Juskiw said.
“We really are there to offer support to the community and share with them what the nonprofit is all about,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Juskiw remarked how the nonprofit’s tenth anniversary is a milestone, especially given the difficult year many rescues have faced with COVID-19.
“We came together as a team, though,” Juskiw said. “We are all on the same page: we’re for the dogs. Everything that we raise and do is for the dogs.”
The duo will be at Pets Supplies Plus in Crown Point on Sunday, July 19 for their next adoption event.
Kelcey Jonas
Kelcey Jonas can almost be described as a dog whisperer. A dog lover to her core, Jonas works closely with the dogs that come into the rescue, understanding them as she trains them be ready to go to their forever home.
Jonas started at Lakeshore PAWS almost eight years ago as kennel staff, a position she held for three years. After meeting a dog trainer and behavioral specialist who noticed Jonas’ connection to the dogs, she briefly left the nonprofit to learn more about this career path. Jonas returned to Lakeshore PAWS in January of this year.
“I help to get temperaments on the dogs in order to place them in the right home,” Jonas said. “I work closely with dogs so that they’re not in the kennels all day; we train them, we take them out, keeping them active. It’s all about getting to know the dogs.”
Jonas is dedicated to the dogs she works with; she understands that many have been through a lot in their lives and have unique needs. When someone comes into to adopt a dog, she spends some time getting to know the family as well, ensuring that they are adopting a dog for the right reasons and will give it a good home.
‘Tell me why you deserve this dog,” Jonas said. ‘We are here to help the dogs; we don’t want to see them returned to the shelter because it ended up not being a good fit. If we’re not placing them in the right home, then we are setting the dogs up for failure.”
Jonas remembers the dogs she cares for at Lakeshore PAWS. Recently, it was a dog named Norman that she and other members of the staff fell in love with.
“We get attached to the dogs that come in here, and that happened with Norman,” Jonas said. “He was having a hard time when he first got here, so I worked really closely with him to get him the training and the social skills he needed to be around other dogs and in a home.”
“We did a lot of obedience work, took him out on the town, took him to get pup cups,” she said. “He really decompressed and felt so much more comfortable.”
Chad and Audrey Rodriguez
Another couple who spends their time volunteering at Lakeshore PAWS is Chad and Audrey Rodriguez. While Audrey Rodriguez keeps the rescue organized, Chad Rodriguez is another jack-of-all-trades for Lakeshore PAWS, doing maintenance and fixing things with his work partner Michael Bottos.
“Both Audrey and I began volunteering six years ago, and at first, we would just walk dogs and clean kennels, and even fostered a dog that turned into a ‘foster fail’ since we later adopted him,” said Chad Rodriguez. “Now I’m here to fix anything that’s broken and to help keep this place running.
The couple also does educational seminars for the nonprofit. They go to schools around the Region to talk about what the nonprofit does, and they even bring their rescued pup, Koda, along.
“We walk into a room of 35 kindergarteners, and we know what his demeanor is going to be,” Chad Rodriguez said. “His tail wags, kids run up to him to pet him. He’s just a good, calm dog and a great representation of what the nonprofit does for dogs in the community.”
The couple are thrilled to be a part of Lakeshore PAWS as it celebrates its tenth anniversary and look forward to seeing how it will continue to grow.
“We’re so proud of this organization and what it has become,” Chad Rodriguez said. “We’ve been here for six years, We were here in the old building, and we even helped get the new building up and running. To see how it’s grown and continues to grow is really special and rewarding for us.”
Debra Ames
Dog walker and longtime volunteer Debra Ames has been with the nonprofit for seven years. Ames lived just down the street from the nonprofit’s former building, and after seeing people walking rescue dogs, she knew it was something she could and wanted to do.
“I would see happy people walking happy dogs, and I knew that was something I could do,” Ames said. “I love to walk, and I love dogs. It was so close to my house, so it was a perfect fit.”
After attending an orientation for the new volunteers, Ames fell in love with it. After seven years of walking dogs early in the morning, she has started to do some of the cleaning as well, working closely with Gnemi to ensure a clean space for volunteers and dogs.
“It’s all about administering to the dogs’ basic needs, and I love that,” Ames said. “I clean the kennels in the morning, make sure they have clean water, food, do the laundry, and just make sure they have everything they need to be comfortable. That’s really been my strength over the years.”
“It’s not glorious work, but it’s important work.”
Ames has found a community at Lakeshore PAWS, one where they all share a common goal and an unconditional love for dogs.
“We had this one dog recently who had been here for so long, and when he was adopted and left to go home, we all just cried and were so happy,” she said. “People who cry when they see a dog go to their forever home are my kind of people.”
Heidi Thibideau
A decade-long volunteer, Heidi Thibideau has been here from the beginning. An animal lover since she could remember, Thibideau wanted to volunteer, but was looking for something more flexible for her life.
“I had three kids at home, so I wanted a volunteer opportunity that allowed me to give back and do it at home,” Thibideau said. “Fostering was the perfect fit for me.”
Thibideau fosters mothers and new litters, providing them a comfortable foster home so they don’t have to be in a kennel.
“Fostering is great for the dogs,” she said. “You learn a lot about them, and it really helps them to be placed in a home that’s a good fit for them. It was the niche that I fell into.”
For moms and new litters, Thibideau fosters the mom while she’s pregnant, and once the babies are born, she will foster the group for six weeks. They’re then divided into smaller fosters, though Thibideau still keeps a group of them until they’re eight weeks old.
“I have a separate space set up for the moms and babies so it’s a nice peaceful and calm area for them to be,” she said. “I love it, and my kids love it.”
“I’ve cried a few times when the dogs are ready to leave,” Thibideau said. “There was one dog that I fostered and was super attached to, who my parents later adopted. But while it’s hard sometimes, I tell myself that I’m helping the dogs and get them to where they’re supposed to be. It’s not about how I feel, it’s about finding the best situation for them.”
For more information about Lakeshore PAWS, visit its website at https://www.lakeshorepaws.org/. To buy tickets for the Pup Crawl, visit the Eventbrite page at. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lakeshore-paws-pup-crawl-2021-tickets-145931371661.