Meet Your On-Call Angel Coordinator!
November 10th, 2026
By Olivia Carpenter, Membership Coordinator –
Hi, everyone! My name is Olivia and I am the crazy cat lover who has been orchestrating the On-Call Angels experience at RedRover for the last three years. I joined RedRover about seven years ago, but I’ve been involved in the animal welfare field for much longer than that! When I was in my twenties I was poached from my job at IKEA by a veterinarian who was opening a cats-only clinic in the area. Though I had no experience working in an office or clinical setting, Dr. Son took a chance on me, and that serendipitous encounter is what led to my fun, crazy, wonderful, stressful, at times heartbreaking, but ultimately fulfilling career in veterinary hospitals. From there it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to RedRover, which allowed me to continue helping animals and people – just in a much calmer setting.
When the coordinator position opened up I jumped at the chance to support the RedRover Relief Urgent Care and Safe Escape grant programs. While I love animals and animal welfare, the human side of the work is equally important to me, especially as a lifelong mental health advocate who credits the furry friends in her life for keeping her sane. Because animal welfare is inextricably tied to human welfare, having an ill or injured companion animal, or an animal on the receiving end of domestic abuse, hurts the people who love them just as much as their pet. That pain is palpable in every application RedRover receives, and never fails to remind me of my own experience with a very ill furry baby and a vet bill that was completely out of my family’s reach.
When I was about fourteen years old my family’s first furry companion, Miss Kitty, had a medical emergency that left her blind and seemingly catatonic at the age of twelve. She couldn’t eat or drink water and hardly moved. We could not figure out what was wrong and I was terrified that my best friend might be suffering in pain. My family was struggling to make ends meet at the time, but somehow my mom and dad came up with the money to have her seen at a local vet. Sadly, the visit was a short one. We were forced to choose between paying hundreds of dollars for diagnostic tests and treatments…or euthanasia. Ultimately, we had no choice but to say goodbye.
Miss Kitty may have crossed the rainbow bridge too soon, but she paved the way for the five cats and one dog I have had the honor of caring for over the years, not to mention the countless guinea pigs, fish, pet rats, and hamsters I grew up with who ensured my love of all animals. To this day, the heart-wrenching pain of losing my “gateway kitty,” the one that began my love (and obsession) with cats, feels fresh. But while I can’t go back in time to save Miss Kitty, I have done my best to honor her memory by helping people and pets who find themselves in similar situations now.
People from almost all walks of life apply to RedRover for help with urgent veterinary care or temporary boarding. Since its inception, thousands of animal lives have been saved and families kept whole thanks to the On-Call Angels program. I will continue pushing its expansion so that, one day, every application approved for a grant by RedRover is covered by the On-Call Angels.
Since I took over as coordinator the number of members has grown from 117 to over 150, but the number of applications for help RedRover receives per year has also increased, so if you are an On-Call Angel whose experience has had a positive impact in their life, don’t keep it a secret– share the cases you’ve received with your friends and family, let them see the pictures of the babies you’ve helped, tell them the story behind your decision to join. Then tell them to call me. Together, we’ll continue to save lives and help make the world a kinder place.
