Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
Our co-hosts
Irene Chansawang, our wonderful Senior Grants Specialist at Maddie’s Fund
Miguel Ruelas, the most awesome Community Resources Manager, Pasadena Humane
Our speakers
Alexis Telfair-Garcia & Brittany Szalkiewics of Austin Pets Alive!
This conversation addresses the critical need for communal support to help staff, volunteers, and the wider community navigate the profound sorrow of the loss of a shelter animal. We will explore the framework for a robust community action plan focusing on three core pillars: structured support groups, heartfelt remembrance celebrations, and practicing empathy to foster collective support.
With a focus on community and a compassionate approach to animal loss, together we strengthen the social fabric, ensuring no individual grieves in isolation. We will discuss how to model transforming disenfranchised grief into a recognized and supported community experience. This model elevates the well-being of the APA! community, proving that grief, when shared, can be a powerful force for connection and healing.
Key Takeaways:
• The critical need for communal support to help staff, volunteers, and the wider community navigate the profound sorrow of the loss of a shelter animal
• How to implement structured support groups, heartfelt remembrance celebrations, and practicing empathy to foster collective support.
• How to model transforming disenfranchised grief into a recognized and supported community experience.
To comment or ask more questions about this meeting, please visit
https://maddies.fund/communityconversations3926
About Community Conversations, hosted by Maddie’s Fund: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, animal sheltering transformed overnight. Foster-based sheltering, home-based employees and volunteers, along with collaboration galvanized our communities. The pandemic, along with social injustice, has motivated our industry to look at how we partner with our communities and confront our own biases. Shelter and rescue staff across the country began talking on a weekly basis, offering support and innovative ideas to do things differently. To learn more about these calls, visit forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
Chapters
00:00 Welcome, Question of the Day
03:15 February prize winners
05:05 Presentation
Our co-hosts
Irene Chansawang, our wonderful Senior Grants Specialist at Maddie’s Fund
Miguel Ruelas, the most awesome Community Resources Manager, Pasadena Humane
Our speakers
Alexis Telfair-Garcia & Brittany Szalkiewics of Austin Pets Alive!
This conversation addresses the critical need for communal support to help staff, volunteers, and the wider community navigate the profound sorrow of the loss of a shelter animal. We will explore the framework for a robust community action plan focusing on three core pillars: structured support groups, heartfelt remembrance celebrations, and practicing empathy to foster collective support.
With a focus on community and a compassionate approach to animal loss, together we strengthen the social fabric, ensuring no individual grieves in isolation. We will discuss how to model transforming disenfranchised grief into a recognized and supported community experience. This model elevates the well-being of the APA! community, proving that grief, when shared, can be a powerful force for connection and healing.
Key Takeaways:
• The critical need for communal support to help staff, volunteers, and the wider community navigate the profound sorrow of the loss of a shelter animal
• How to implement structured support groups, heartfelt remembrance celebrations, and practicing empathy to foster collective support.
• How to model transforming disenfranchised grief into a recognized and supported community experience.
To comment or ask more questions about this meeting, please visit
https://maddies.fund/communityconversations3926
About Community Conversations, hosted by Maddie’s Fund: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, animal sheltering transformed overnight. Foster-based sheltering, home-based employees and volunteers, along with collaboration galvanized our communities. The pandemic, along with social injustice, has motivated our industry to look at how we partner with our communities and confront our own biases. Shelter and rescue staff across the country began talking on a weekly basis, offering support and innovative ideas to do things differently. To learn more about these calls, visit forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
Chapters
00:00 Welcome, Question of the Day
03:15 February prize winners
05:05 Presentation
