This is an unusual story about a community coming together, to address a readily visible problem in the area, in a way that brought transformation to everyone involved!

There is an old idea... that when a culture begins to unravel and fall apart -- when you see problems everywhere around you, if you pick up the thread closest to you and to walk together towards the center -- that's how the culture gets rebuilt! 

When Friends of the Homeless began in 2013, our office was located in SW Baltimore, where there was no shortage of problems, including a multitude of stray cats hanging around outside of our office. It was such a problem, that we began to wonder what we might do to help our community?

Children in the area would tell us that kids would bring kittens to school to giveaway, parents would say they could keep the cats, and the next thing you know, the cats were put out when they became pregnant to become a challenge for the community to solve. Doing this actually transformed our community in multiple ways! To find out how addressing this transformed our community and empowered individuals at the same time, read the inspiring story (click button above). Meanwhile, if you want practical ways to resolve this problem, read on here.

Here's how you can actually resolve this problem!

~ Contact your local animal services ~ Most cities and counties in the U.S., have animal services, like the SPCA or the Humane Society, an animal shelter or rescue, Animal control, 3-1-1 or 2-1-1 may be able to help provide you with their contact information.

~ Partner with other organizations and look into discounted spay/neuter options ~ In Baltimore, BARCS (Baltimore Animal and Rescue Care Shelter) and the SPCA offer free spay/neuter services. You can borrow carrier-traps from them to transport the cats to and from the appointments. Some veterinarians in the area offer discounted spay/neuter programs as well.

~ Get your neighbors to help while building community ~ Our area was transformed a little bit at a time. When we first arrived at our office, seniors were indifferent to the cats, some were actually harmful trapping them and removing them to no one knew where, kids would scream at them out of fear, and we were the only ones known to be helping resolve the problem at all. It took time to model to the neighbors that stray cats could be socialized and could become good companions and service pets for lonely seniors and others in need of support in the community. And it took time for others to follow our lead and begin to care for the cats themselves. From 2013 to 2020, we helped 100 cats to be spayed/neutered, cared for, and found permanent homes in areas where they are now safe and cared for! Inviting others to join you can also build community, unify people towards a common purpose, and teach people how to be an advocate for themselves and others.

~ Let others know about free spay/neuter programs ~ If you're going to solve the problem of overpopulation, it will be because of 2 factors ~ 1. You've gotten the current strays spayed/neutered promptly, and 2. You've been routinely sharing and promoting the free spay/neuter and transportation services for this in your community. Below are flyers that we created on from existing BARCS flyers and then shared each quarter with our local schools, churches, community centers, libraries, neighbors, on NextDoor, through social media, and every other outlet that we could think of!