SEATTLE VETERINARY OUTREACH TO ADDRESS LACK OF ACCESSIBLE VETERINARY CARE IN HISTORICALLY EXCLUDED COMMUNITY WITH SUPPORT FROM PETSMART CHARITIES
Latino communities make up the initial cohort for the trailblazing grant program
May 16, 2023— Seattle, WA – Seattle Veterinary Outreach (SVO) has received a grant from PetSmart Charities® in the amount of $120,000 to address access to veterinary care challenges for members of the Latino/Hispanic community in Seattle and connect pet owners to vital health, housing, and social service resources. Twenty percent of SVO’s social service clients identify as Hispanic, as compared to U.S. Census data which indicates a Hispanic population of ~6% in Seattle, demonstrating that SVO’s existing programs successfully reach and engage Latino/Hispanic families. However, as of yet, SVO has been unable to fully meet the demand for accessible veterinary services among Seattle’s Latino/Hispanic community. The grant from PetSmart Charities will allow SVO to expand its partnership with El Centro De La Raza – an affordable housing provider serving some 22,000 Latino/Hispanic community members – to better meet their veterinary and human health needs.
Rising costs combined with geographical and cultural barriers have left many communities out of the veterinary care system altogether. This grant program supports innovative and culturally relevant veterinary programs.
Early in 2023, PetSmart Charities, the top funder of animal welfare in the US, announced a $100 million commitment over the next five years toward improving access to veterinary care. One of these visionary new grant programsfocuses on historically excluded communities, many of which lack access to food, housing, transportation, education and veterinary services. Latino communities were selected to comprise the first cohort of grantee emphasis.
“Our clients are people living at low-income levels in Seattle with pets. Because SVO has a mobile service delivery model, we co-locate our clinics with other organizations, borrowing their space to deliver services and reduce barriers to care. This will remain the case with our partners at El Centro De La Raza, that serve Latino/Hispanic communities in South Seattle by providing access to affordable housing and wrap-around services to improve social determinants of health conditions. We’re very excited to be a part of this partnership with PetSmart Charities” said Monica Beard, board president of Seattle Veterinary Outreach.
While 70% of American homes feature pets, access to basic veterinary services has not kept pace. This is particularly felt in marginalized communities that have additional barriers beyond cost, including language barriers and a lack of veterinary clinics in the vicinity. While 62% of Latino house-holds own pets, accessing resources to keep pets healthy and in their homes can be challenging.
Instead of taking pre-planned solutions into selected communities, grantees will build relationships and assess specific needs, first. This ensures that communities that have been left out are deliberately included in deciding how and when they will access the healthcare they need for their pets. SVO’s unique model addresses many of the access barriers Latino/Hispanic communities currently face: financial, transportation, cultural differences, lack of trust. SVO will co-locate its veterinary and social services with its partner El Centro De La Raza to maximize longterms gains in client and pet welfare. By being mobile, SVO addresses transportation as a barrier. Clinics are held close to client housing so clients can readily get to needed services with lower effort and time.
“Most people today consider pets family, yet 50 million pets in the U.S. struggle to access even basic preventative care such as spay/neuter procedures, vaccinations and annual exams,” said Kate Atema, director of community grants and initiatives at PetSmart Charities. “While this issue affects families in nearly every community, those who have been historically excluded from human social services are most in need of pet services, too. We’re proud to support this innovative approach that meets the unique needs identified by those living in the communities themselves.”
SVO’s model has had profound effects on the lives of those served, including enabling clients to gain access stable emergency housing, and enabling pets to remain with their loving families, even in hard times.
About Seattle Veterinary Outreach
Seattle Veterinary Outreach addresses inequities in access to care for people living homeless and low income (PLHLI) and their pets in King County, WA. SVO’s innovative model decreases barriers to care and increases client trust and engagement by using free veterinary care as an on-ramp to health services for human clients. SVO “envisions a world where underserved people and their pets enjoy equitable access to health and housing,” and we are working steadily towards this vision by providing free and sliding-scale veterinary services and connecting people to needed health, housing, and social service resources.
SVO programs provide services to clients missed by most other organizations due to a combination of physical, mental, and emotional barriers, which decrease access to and acceptance of healthcare options for underserved people who may be uncomfortable interfacing with more traditional healthcare organizations. SVO uses a variety of approaches to overcome these barriers to care. We partner with public, private, and mutual-aid partner organizations, we literally meet clients where they are in encampments and on the streets, and we use the “hook” of high-quality free/affordable (sliding-scale) pet care to initiate conversations with pet owners about their own health care access.
About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities is committed to making the world a better place for pets and all who love them. Through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities helps up to 400,000 pets connect with loving families each year. PetSmart Charities also provides grant funding to support organizations that advocate and care for the well-being of all pets and their families. Our grants and efforts connect pets with loving homes through adoption, improve access to affordable veterinary care and support families in times of crisis with access to food, shelter and disaster response. Each year, millions of generous supporters help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities directly at PetSmartCharities.org, while shopping at PetSmart.com, and by using the PIN pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart® stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to fulfill its role as the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, granting more than $500 million since its inception in 1994. Independent from PetSmart LLC, PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization that has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator for the past 18 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of rated charities. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
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