Volunteering

Whether you can donate an hour, a day, a week or a month, your help is very much needed.  You will find it to be a very rewarding experience.  Give the gift of love and of yourself to the deserving animals at Almost Home.  If all you do is walk a dog or scratch a kitty behind the ears, that animal will appreciate the love and attention. The following is a sample of just some of the types of help we can always use. 

*NEW* ONLINE VOLUNTEER APPLICATION & SCHEDULING
THROUGH BETTER IMPACT

1.  Apply through the link below!
2.  Wait for your application to get approved (usually within 24 hours).
3.  Once approved, log in and schedule yourself at your convenience!

URGENT NEEDS...

FOSTERING ANIMALS -- Call Almost Home (434-263-7722) any weekday afternoon and ask for Sigrid.

Foster care families are needed for dogs, puppies, cats, and kittens. Foster care is typically for short periods.  It could be a few days, or, in some cases, a month or more. The need for foster care can be broken down into the following situations:  

• Animals transferred to us from Animal Control. These animals will be sent to a rescue organization on the weekend. This is often the shortest foster duration. Volunteers interested in this assignment will ideally help with transport (to the vet, to meet the transport van, etc.). Transport day is usually an early call (i.e., 5:00 a.m.).
• Litters of puppies that will be transferred to Massachusetts. This transport occurs once per month. The foster care person is responsible for taking puppies to Almost Home or a vet for shots, worming, and health certificates before the puppies can go out of state. Foster care givers can expect to have the puppies for 2-4 weeks. However, this can be longer if a puppy or puppies have or develop a health issue (i.e., parvo, mange, ringworm, etc.)
• Special needs animals.  This is often a longer assignment and can include an animal that is expected to have a lengthy recovery from some type of surgery, or an animal with behavioral issues that could benefit from a family setting.
• Litters of kittens, pregnant cats, and mothers with young kittens. Twice a year, we have a kitten “bloom” and struggle to accommodate the increase in cats and kittens coming into the shelter. As the population increases at the shelter, so does illness among the cats. If our cats are sick, we cannot secure homes for them on a timely basis. Again, foster homes are the answer.
• Hound Foster Hounds Needed - Animal Control & Almost Home are flooded with hounds. While hounds are incredibly affectionate and willing learners many have never received individual attention or training. Foster care provides them the opportunity to work on their house manners and makes them more adoptable.  
• Short-Term Fosters – there are times when Almost Home and Nelson County Animal Control become overcrowded. In many cases the overcrowding can be resolved by getting the most adoptable dogs into foster care for about week before transferring them to another no-kill shelter. This is a great way for people who don’t trust themselves to give their foster animals back to make a big difference! Please let me know if you can help.

ANIMAL CARE - Apply using the application above for more information

Animals need to be fed, watered, walked, play with, socialized, groomed, trained and taken on outings.

BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

Help always needed to spruce up our grounds.

COVERAGE AT THE ALMOST HOME ADOPTION CENTER

The past two or three years have been marked by a shortage of help at the center.  This is especially true on the weekends. We need reliable, consistent help with the following: 

• Office duties: answering phones, filing, etc.
• Cleaning cat and dog rooms
• Cleaning carriers and the van after transports and clinics
• Medicating animals
• Interviewing adoption candidates
• Grooming: giving baths, brushing/combing
• Dog walking and training
• Animal socializing
• Taking Photos of Animals for Website          
• Shopping for supplies
• …the list goes on

LANDSCAPING

If you have a special interest in landscaping around the shelter, we would love to have you!  

FUNDRAISING AND ADOPTION EVENTS    

• Organizing events
• Help setting up at the event
• Walking dogs at event…the more volunteers we have, the more dogs/cats we can bring
• Help with adoption paperwork

SPAY/NEUTER PROGRAM

• Trapping services – We need at least one additional person to trap and transport feral cats to clinics and pre and post surgery holding locations.
• Transport Check-in – We need one back-up person for clinic check-in. This person would be responsible for processing paperwork and collecting money for each animal.  They would also need to assist with loading animals on the spay/neuter van. Check-in begins at 7:00 a.m. and ends at 8:00 a.m.
• Transport Pick-Up – We need a back-up person to handle the returning spay/neuter van. This involves helping unload animals, giving post-surgical instructions to pet owners, and processing paperwork.
• Volunteers For Post Surgical Care -- We require one or two locations where trapped cats can recuperate for 1-4 days after surgery. Persons willing to provide this care must have a climate controlled area or building (i.e. garage or shed) where these cats can be kept and cared for before returning to their colony.

Aren't ready to volunteer quite yet? Use the PayPal button provided below to make a donation.  For more detailed information on donating, select the "Donation Info" link.