Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaine Henderson.
Hi Elaine, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have a long background in rescue beginning as a child when I accompanied my mom to the local shelter where she volunteered, and I have never stopped.
I’ve rescued dogs off the streets and found them homes most my life. I decided to make We Are Zeus, Inc. an official 5013c in the early part of 2023. My decision to start WAZ was due to a horrid case of abuse that stole my heart and I named him Zeus. Rescuing him, caring for him, nursing him back to health and seeing his personality come alive is what inspired me to start We Are Zeus, Inc. This dog who has every reason in the world to hate humans was an amazing example of the unconditional love you can find in a rescued animal and I want every dog to have a chance at knowing that love. We lost Zeus a couple of years ago but he knew unconditional love and it makes me even more dedicated to helping every dog that we can.
My VP & Program Director, Tami Shaffer, came on in 2023. She’s been a solid source of support for absolutely everything regarding We Are Zeus. Together we’ve done countless adoption, vendor and microchipping events to save more shelter dogs as well as help to educate the community wherever we can.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not a smooth road to be found in the rescue world!
Struggles vary across the board but our most prevalent is lack of donations and/or funding. We’re looking for grant writers willing to donate some time toward helping us find the funds WAZ is aligned with and guiding us to a successful submission .
Supplies are a struggle. Without funds we can’t purchase supplies so we rely on donations. We have wish lists at several different supply sites for items and products we desperately need. All donations information, links included, are found on our website, wearezeus.org.
Transportation for our dogs to and from events is a struggle, finding volunteers can be a struggle, finding fosters and adopters is most definitely a struggle. Our dogs need to be seen so we struggle with getting our dogs networked properly online, the word struggle is part of the rescue world.
Lastly, we have a few ideas in development to generate revenue in hopes that we can become less dependent on donations.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We provide resources and services to local animal shelters to successfully save more dogs, with programs for pet adoption, supplies, training, enrichment, volunteering. and so much more.
We focus on owner retention and shelter prevention. We are keeping pets with owners through education, vetting, financial assistance, and community services for spay/neuter, microchip and vaccine clinics.
We don’t operate like other rescues and that’s what sets us apart. We will, and have bent over backwards to, help dogs as well as people how ever and wherever we can.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I grew up enjoying outdoors, riding bikes, skating and Weston Lake. I was a girl that played with dolls and with mud pies. We lived in a military community and there were so many kids around. We always had something to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.wearezeus.org
- Instagram: wearezeusinc
- Facebook: We Are Zeus
