Charlotte
Charlotte was our first save from the Wichita Animal Shelter.
She was a scruffy little cat. Her eyes were bleeding. She looked horrific.
And when Jen saw her, the thought was simple:
"If she needs me, I need her."
There were plenty of reasons to hesitate. Jen didn’t know if her dogs would accept a cat. She didn’t know if she was ready for one. She had had a traumatic loss of Bad Cat not long before.
But somehow, in a million ways, Charlotte needed her.
And in a billion more, Jen said she needed Charlotte.
Charlotte went to Jen's home with flea dermatitis and a list of medical needs that would only grow. Over the next two years, there would be test after test, hospital stay after hospital stay, and more than one moment when Jen thought she was going to lose her.
And somewhere along the way, they also learned something unexpected: Charlotte was a boy.
The name stayed. Because Charlotte was Charlotte.
Jen's time with Charlotte would be painfully short — just two years. About a year and a half in, the medical battles became harder. There were days when it looked like Charlotte might not make it.
But even in the hardest moments, Jen could feel how pure Charlotte’s love was.
No expectations. No conditions.
Just love.
Charlotte also brought people into Jen’s life, including one of her best friends, Beth. That is one of the things animals do. Their impact stretches far beyond the space they occupy in our homes. They connect us to people, places and pieces of ourselves we might never have found without them.
When Charlotte passed in July 2022, the loss came during an already heartbreaking year.
But having Charlotte for only two years never made those two years less important.
Charlotte reminded Jen how unbelievably lucky and blessed she was to have known the love of a cat.
And Charlotte opened her eyes to something else.
How many cats were sitting in shelters waiting for someone to see them?
There still is an unbelievable disparity between the value we put on the life of a dog versus the life of a cat.
Charlotte helped turn Jen into what she will proudly tell you she is today: "100% a dog person and 100% a cat person."
She taught Jen about cats, about unconditional love, about loss and about an entire population of shelter animals desperately needing someone to notice them.
Because sometimes the animal you think you are saving becomes the one who changes everything.
Today, cats are a huge part of the dream we are building, too. Because of an amazing cat team and foster system we often have more than 100 cats in our care.
100 days. 100 stories. One dream.
We have a dream that shelters can be places of hope — places where every soul is seen, loved and given a chance, and where people can leave feeling better than when they arrived.
We are building that dream together. A rescue rooted in joy.
1.4 million. 5,600 Dream Builders. $250 at a time.
We're sharing 100 rescue stories over 100 days to raise $1.4M, to build our dream that is Homestead East in KC. A place that will show people what's possible when rescue is rooted in joy. A dream that won't be built on one big check. 5,600 gifts of $250 will make it real.
BECOME A DREAM BUILDER: https://buff.ly/xYQ66OV
TELL US ABOUT THE RESCUE THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE OR THE MOMENT THAT LED YOU TO RESCUE: https://buff.ly/nEnWd9w