RedRover Relief
Safe Housing grants for Homeless Shelters
RedRover’s Safe Housing grants help unhoused people by creating spaces where pets and their people can find safety together.
Steps to Apply
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Grant Information
Safe Housing Grants for Homeless Shelters
Grants of up to $60,000 are offered to homeless shelters across the United States. Funding may be used to build or renovate spaces dedicated to housing unhoused people and their pets. Grant funds may also be used for routine veterinary care and/or emergency veterinary care for people entering the homeless shelter, and for pet deposits for people exiting the homeless shelter.
Funds requested to pay for medical care, and pet deposits are intended to help with program costs for a maximum of two years. It is expected that your organization will use that time to work on a funding plan and cover those costs after RedRover’s funds have been used. The majority of requested funds should be for building or renovating a pet-friendly space. The funds requested must also be based on a researched or demonstrated need for the number of animals expected to use the pet program. Preferably, a minimum of six months of data on the actual need for pet housing should be collected before applying. This would include both the number of people needing help and the number of animals. Suggestions on how to collect this information include talking about pets during intake or calls.
Building Collaborative Relationships
In addition to helping people and pets find safety together, these grants are meant to help build collaborative relationships within your community. Homeless shelters and animal organizations will be expected to work together to identify the needs for these services in their communities and find the best ways to fill them. If veterinary services cannot be provided by the animal organization, a partnership with one or more veterinary clinics is recommended. We also suggest reaching out to community organizations, such as the Girl Scouts, local pet supply stores, places of worship, etc., to see if they are able to fulfill any program needs through community service or donations. Ongoing needs, such as pet food and supplies, leashes and collars, or short-term needs like help with landscaping or organizing, can often be filled by your animal shelter partner, volunteers, and fundraisers.
Resources
Before submitting your application, we strongly encourage you to visit DontForgetThePets.org. RedRover and Greater Good Charities created this resource for those interested in building a program to help people and pets find safety together. Free training workshops and handbooks are available, as well as one-on-one coaching assistance to help you plan your program and submit your application. Learn more >
Questions? Check out our Safe Housing FAQ
To request a PDF copy of the RedRover Relief Safe Housing grant application to use as reference before applying, please fill out our Safe Housing Application PDF Request >
You can also download our Safe Housing budget template. All budgets submitted with a Safe Housing application must use this template.
Are you eligible?
- Applicants must be either an established homeless shelter interested in expanding their services to help unhoused people keep their pets on-site at the shelter.
- Before submitting this application, applicants should be very near the point where work is ready to start - all estimates in hand, all planning nearly completed, and any permits in place or nearly complete.
- Applicants must have a partner organization. Homeless shelters must form a partnership with at least one animal organization with experience housing animals. This is to ensure that homeless shelters have a partner who can help with animal care information and overflow boarding when needed.
- Applicants must be registered as a nonprofit organization.
- Applicants must be based in the United States.
RedRover Safe Housing grants cannot be used for:
Costs including, but not limited to...
- Salaries
- Training
- Real estate acquisition
- Promotional materials or advertising
- To support existing programs that are not expanding their capacity to help animals.
- To start a new organization, all grant applications must be submitted by established organizations.
Pre-application Checklist
Before applying all organizations must:
- Be ready to start accepting pets into their program within 12 months or less.
- Have a detailed program plan and budget.
- Have already spoken with a contractor, or other relevant person, and received detailed estimates for any building or renovation, if applicable.
- Verify their ability to obtain any permits or other authorization needed, if building or renovating.
- Ensure that the program meets all relevant animal ordinances and laws, if housing pets.
- Obtain a written Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with your partner organization. This should detail the responsibilities of both parties and not simply be a statement of mutual aid. An MOU that includes pet boarding should include the cost per day, if any.
- Identify a veterinary partner, or have the ability to provide veterinary care through their organization.
The deadline for Homeless Shelters to submit a Safe Housing grant application is March 1st. If funding remains after March, this page will be updated and applications will be open again with a June 1st deadline.
Funding decisions will be made within 45 days of the application deadlines.
By clicking the application link you are verifying that you have read the above eligibility information.
Questions?
Check out our FAQs
Interested in additional resources and funding?
Check out our directory of grant and loan programs
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