Summertime in Cincinnati: Dedicated volunteers make a big impact for pets in crisis
August 7th, 2025
By Johanna Casao, Communications Manager –
Over the course of five days, we teamed with our partners from Purina and Greater Good Charities to create two outdoor dog yards for some safe outdoor play time, and helped prepare six bedroom units to welcome in survivors and their pets at the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati.
KATIE
What happens when you combine enthusiasm, hard work, and dedication (and even rain!) with shovels, paint brushes, and fencing? You get another pet-friendly domestic violence (DV) shelter that offers the opportunity for more domestic violence survivors to find safety and healing with their pets. And quite a bit of mud!
No amount of mud could deter our dedicated volunteers or our friends at Purina from our collaboration on the Purple Leash Project. These projects are always special for me, but this one was just a little extra special! Since October 2022, the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati has worked towards becoming pet friendly, and we’re thrilled to have been a part of their journey through free training and Coaching via our collaborative Don’t Forget the Pets project.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our friends from Purina and the Purple Leash Project and, of course, our volunteers who always answer the call to bring pets and their people from crisis to care.
NANCY
This was my first RedRover Responders deployment work, and it was a special experience to be able to help the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati in their journey to becoming pet friendly. I am still in awe of everyone’s commitment and dedication to the work, from making cat scratchers to completing the pet relief spaces. It was wonderful to see such engagement and positivity from volunteers and leadership. The process was well-organized and, despite thunder and rain, everything ran very smoothly. It was a great time bonding with our team of volunteers – sharing pet stories and laughs – and collaborating with the amazing folks at YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, Greater Good Charities, and Purina. This is such an important project for survivors and their pets to feel safe, and be safe together. To know that the work we’ve done will help families and their pets is beyond words, and I look forward to future opportunities to deploy with our RedRover Responders team.
TIA
This past July, I joined our RedRover Responders volunteers and headed out to Cincinnati, Ohio, where we helped YWCA of Greater Cincinnati complete pet-friendly renovations at their domestic violence shelter. This deployment emphasized how impactful the work is that volunteers do, even when the conditions are not favorable. Despite the summer heat and humidity, our volunteers were determined to complete each project with care, with direction from our friends at Greater Good Charities.
Projects included installing fencing for dog play yards, cleaning and painting tires for dog tunnels, and installing cat shelves for some much-needed feline enrichment. Completing the outdoor play yards for the dogs was exciting, because providing even a small amount of space for fresh air, sunshine, and a couple of “zoomies” is extremely beneficial for dogs coming into emergency shelters. These additions to the shelter will help the people and pets in crisis that come through the shelter doors for years to come. It is an excellent reminder for me – and for our readers – that the passion of a few can be life-changing for many.
