“What we’re talking about is people. And working with people equally as much as we work with pets,” said Matt Pepper on a recent Community Conversations call.

Pepper, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Michigan Humane spoke of the importance of meeting the community where they are at. While Michigan Humane held events in the community, Pepper questioned whether or not they were actually part of the community. Following that, they held several well-attended listening sessions in the community and truly listened to what was being said.

He also shared that as an industry, “We vilify poverty a lot. We look at someone and say if you can’t afford an animal, you shouldn’t have one. They’re not a partner, but a problem to be solved.” Pepper shared the importance of getting away from the “hero” stories and sharing the “every person” story, which meant letting people share their own stories.

What’s more, Pepper shared that keeping pets with their families actually saved the organization money in the long run. For Michigan Humane, shared the cost of keeping a pet in a home through all retention means is $684. The cost of care to keep a pet at its facility is $1,193.

To learn more about Michigan Humane and how its helping people navigate challenges, watch “Keep Families & Pets Together with Safety Net Programming”