Periodically, I am highlighting someone or an organization in our community whose Heart for Companions is enriching lives and strengthening the non-human and human relationship.Today I am spotlighting Pam McKie, executive director of Pets In Need of Greater Cincinnati, the only nonprofit veterinary clinic providing comprehensive wellness care for pets whose guardians are challenged with financial hardship.
Pam and I have known each other for many years, since she was managing business director of Beech Acres Parenting Center and I was contracted to help its marketing department. Pam’s more than 40-year career has been focused on supporting vulnerable populations through social work, mental health and education. Throughout, she has been exposed to family pets and seen the importance of those animals to the human lives they share.
She got to know Pets In Need when she was asked to join its Board…and then later to be its director. Under her leadership, the clinic continues to expand, which is wonderful for pet families.
If you want to know why our community needs an organization called Pets In Need of Greater Cincinnati, just look at their patient photos, which speak volumes for what words cannot.
They are people who love their companion perhaps more than they have loved anyone else in their life.
Their pets are cats and dogs who love unconditionally offering a source of strength and compassion to their human being.
Together, they are family. They give each other comfort on dark days, reasons to smile, laugh and play.
These are clients who walk through the doors of Pets In Need where they receive affordable, high quality veterinary care that otherwise would be cost prohibitive. They are people who, due to life circumstances, are living below 200% of the federal poverty level. They are seniors, veterans, adults with disabilities, those who have experienced a life setback including homelessness.
Every year, more than 3000 pet parents (a statistic that continues to grow) are able to keep their pets because of the care they receive from this organization. The clinic is the only permanent resource for comprehensive veterinary care for low-income pet families in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Through a partnership with the SPCA Cincinnati , Pets In Need shares its space for the SPCA’s Chow Now Pantry – a free pet food program that helps keep local pets fed and families together.
I visited Pam and her team recently. I felt their hearts. I met some of the lives who are are touched. It warms my heart.
To Pam, and everyone at Pets In Need, I want to say a big THANK YOU for all that you do!
