One of my favorite times at CAT was when we were approached by PetSmart Charities in 2011 to train other shelters on our amazing foster program that I helped create. They had heard about and seen our foster program in action and were impressed with what we were doing. They wanted other shelters to know about our baby bags full of supplies, our pre-adoption process, and how we had volunteer foster mentors who gave vaccines and recognized illness in order to supply some medications based on our vet’s protocols.
They flew me to another animal organization with a great training program and set me up with their leaders to learn. After that, Fostering 4 Rock Stars was born, and in the first year, I was jet-setting across the country to train shelters on our program. Later, our program was picked up by Maddie’s Fund. We did a year of research with our Fostering 4 Rock Stars training and watched three shelters as they implemented our program for one year. What a difference one year made for all the shelters.
After that, our Fostering 4 Rock Stars model changed, and shelters came to us for training. Now, in 2023 we are working with Maddie’s Fund to create an online self-paced six-week course for anyone to take. Later, we will have instructor-led courses for up to 25 participants at a time. I’m proud of our foster program and all the lives we are able to help, and I’m also proud of all those other shelters out there making changes to save more kittens.
Shared by: Kristi Brooks
