It's been a busy and wonderful summer at Always & Furever, and we have so much to share!
First, a quick update on how we'll be staying in touch. Our longer, recap-style newsletters will now arrive quarterly, highlighting the animals, people, programs, and progress across our rescue. In between, you'll hear from Jen more frequently through Messages from Our Founder, along with special announcements, events, and important updates.
This summer, we celebrated nearly 300 adoptions, visited senior living communities, and participated in countless community events. We also welcomed amazing volunteers across all our locations who walked dogs, cared for animals, washed mountains of laundry, donated supplies, and helped with repairs and improvements.
Whether you're volunteering in person, donating, sharing our stories, or cheering us on from afar, you are part of what makes this dream possible. We couldn't do this without you!
And speaking of dreams, we're in the middle of our We Have a Dream. 100 Days. 100 Stories. campaign! We're sharing incredible stories of past and present animals that remind us why we do this work and why we're dreaming even bigger. If you've missed a few, we hope you'll catch up and follow along.
And there's even more to look forward to! We have some exciting collaborations with local businesses launching soon, along with something especially close to our hearts — our very first children's book! The final months of the year are shaping up to be full of exciting new ways to share our mission, celebrate our animals, and bring our community together. We can't wait to share it all with you!
Thank you for believing in our mission, loving our animals, and helping us reimagine rescue. We're so grateful you're part of our rescue family!
🏡 What Rescue Reimagined Means
❤️More than a safe place to wait. A meaningful life, starting now.
Rescue Reimagined is the idea behind everything we did this summer. Each morning, Jen came back to the same belief: a shelter shouldn't be a place where an animal sits in a kennel waiting for its real life to begin. Their life is happening right now.
We believe animals are individuals whose lives deserve comfort, relationships, healing, dignity and joy for their whole time in our care, not only after adoption. We're working toward a world where every soul is treated with kindness, dignity and respect, and where every life has been touched by love, even if only for a moment. ❤️
So this summer we focused on making each life a good one. Our mornings start before sunrise. The dogs have playgroups and friends, soft beds and couches, big rooms, sunshine and people who know them by name. Seniors nobody chose, dogs pulled from euthanasia lists and the ones who just need more time all get the same thing: safety, joy and love, in whatever way works for each of them. 🐾
✨ What Makes Us Different
"No kill" means different things to different organizations. The most common industry benchmark counts a shelter as no-kill once it saves 90% of the animals that come through its doors. That benchmark has saved millions of lives, and we're grateful to every shelter working toward it.
Rescue Reimagined asks for more than a percentage. Our promise is No Kill. No Kennel. No Adoption Fees.
Almost 10,000 lives saved have taught us that rescue is about more than survival. It's about the days in between, after an animal is saved but before a family arrives, and making those days count. Being older, different or overlooked should never make an animal disposable, and no shelter animal should ever be treated like just another number.
🕯️ The Promises Behind the Mission
👀 We see a life, not a label. We don't euthanize for space, time, age, cost or treatability, and no animal loses their life because the building is full or the wait is long. When an animal comes into our care, we commit to them for life. That includes their final chapter: through hospice and Furever Foster care, even a short story can be full of comfort, companionship and someone who knows them.
🛋️ We create a home, not just a holding space. Couches instead of cages, friends instead of fear, time instead of deadlines. Our animals live in the Little Red Barn, private suites, Lighthouse Village tiny homes, dedicated cat spaces and foster homes, and each space is shaped around the animal who lives there.
💞 We help them belong, not simply get placed. Adoption never carries a fee, because we cannot put a price on a soul. We match families on fit and love, not on who can pay. Foster homes give animals time to decompress, foster-to-adopt makes room for a thoughtful match, and our commitment to every animal continues after they go home.
💙 Every soul is worth it. A $20,000 puppy surgery, a $30,000 brain surgery, an ICU stay: one life is never "too expensive."
🎉 We make room for joy, right now. Homeless, but not waiting to live. Rollerblading dates, Little Big Paws pontoon rides, Doggie Dates, sleepovers, pickleball Joy Drops, mini-pony visits and Wichita Wind Surge first pitches. An animal shouldn't have to wait for adoption to enjoy a day that belongs to them.
🚐 We bring care closer and keep families together. Our mobile vet team, Hope on Wheels, Community Vet Care and the Community Care Fund remove the cost barriers that force loving owners to surrender their pets. The goal isn't to take in more animals. It's to help more animals.
🤝 We invite the community in. Team Minis, senior visits, Joy Drops, volunteers, partners and stories like the Morning Rescue Report give everyone a way to connect. You don't have to arrive already knowing how to help.
🏗️ We build the next promise responsibly. Homestead East, the planned St. Francis Veterinary Center and our Dream Builders carry the mission forward, backed by the everyday support that keeps the lights on for the animals already in our care.
Jen answered the question we hear most in a June post that reached nearly 9,000 people: How do you justify spending thousands on one dog when that money could save so many others?
"If you look at rescue through a spreadsheet, it makes sense… But that's not why Always & Furever was built. Always & Furever was built on a very simple belief: a soul is a soul, and every soul deserves to be loved."
Save the life, then make that life worth living. That's Rescue Reimagined. #NotYourAverageShelter
On July 25 we celebrated eight years since one little red barn became a movement. The gala sold out. Before it, an incredibly generous donor offered to match every gift up to $50,000. Together, we didn't just meet that match — we exceeded it.
Guests also walked back through eight years of our story through music, choosing a song for each chapter, from "Imagine" in 2018 to the rescues that shaped us.
"The gala celebrated the last eight years, but it also marked the beginning of what comes Beyond."
The Little Wichita Barn Turns One
This summer marked one year of the Little Wichita Barn. To celebrate, we're upgrading the main kitty room with wall-mounted shelves on the rainbow wall. When the barn's air conditioning failed in extreme August heat, the Wichita community rallied and got it fixed fast. That's what one year of roots looks like.
Pickle 4 Paws Opens Next Door
Our Pickle 4 Paws space beside the Little Wichita Barn became a community clubhouse this summer, with "Coworker of the Day" office dogs and our new Joy Drops: $20 + 20 minutes + 200 pickleballs = the best part of a rescue animal's week. Local businesses and vendors are invited to partner with us on events and outreach.
Catch up on this summer's adoptions!
We are finalizing population our first children's book.
Stay tuned. It will be available for purchase before Christmas.
We are working on some really great collaborations with Kansas City area businesses.
The following two will launch soon. so stay tuned. And we have a lot of other things in the works. If you own a business or know someone who does that wants to collaborate or partner, we would love to connect.
Want an easy way to support A&F and contribute to being a Dream Builder? Help Maxia Insurance become a Dream Builder without having to make any physical donation, just a little time!
Simply reach out to theinsurancelexpert and receive an insurance quote. She does home, car and commercial. Maxia will donate $10 to A&F for every quote (so if you quote car and home, then A&F receives $20). Does not require actually switching your insurance, but she is who we trust our insurance with and we fully trust our supporters with her! She’s an insurance broker so it’s not just one company she can quote on and it never hurts to compare with what you have!
Email lmyer@maxiainsurance.com and mention Always & Furever and she will let you know what information she needs! No limit to how many donations we can receive!
A Special Shoutout to Our Amazing Volunteers! ❤️🐾
To every volunteer who spent time at our barns, helped care for our animals, or represented Always & Furever at community events this summer — THANK YOU!
Whether you gave an hour, a day, or countless hours, your time, energy, and compassion make an incredible difference. We truly couldn't do what we do without you, and we hope you know just how much you are appreciated.
You are the heart of our rescue family, and we're so grateful for each and every one of you!
WE HAVE A DREAM. 100 DAYS. 100 STORIES.
We have a dream to reimagine what rescue can look like. A place where survival is just the beginning, where peace, comfort, and love are as important as saving a life.
Through Giving Tuesday, we're sharing 100 stories in 100 days — stories of the animals and people whose lives have been changed by Always & Furever. Each story reminds us why this dream matters.
Our goal is to raise $1.4 million to complete Phase One of Homestead East,
our future campus that will include a veterinary clinic to provide lifesaving care and Lighthouses — peaceful, home-like spaces where animals can feel safe, decompress, and heal.
We're inviting YOU to become a Dream Builder! With a gift of $250, you'll be recognized as one of the special people who helped turn this dream into reality.
Because rescue should be about more than keeping animals alive.
It should be about giving them a life worth living.
To our amazing monthly donors who make up our Furever Believers Club, watch your emails for this quarters exclusive newsletter, which will also include the link to join Jen for the exclusive Furever Believers virtual meet up.
Come with questions, suggestions or anything else. These meetings are for you. They are your chance to go behind the scenes and dive into what we have done and have planned.
If you aren't in the club but want more information, email april@alwaysandfurever.org.
We're excited to share a special Avon fundraiser benefiting Always & Furever Midwest Animal Sanctuary!
20% of every purchase made through our fundraiser will come directly back to Always & Furever! And if we have a successful fundraiser, we could receive an additional bonus donation!
Plus, shipping is FREE on orders over $60!
This fundraiser is being generously sponsored by the adopter of Annie, one of our original five rescue dogs! It means so much to us that someone who has been part of our journey from the very beginning is continuing to help us care for the animals who need us today.
Every purchase helps us continue our mission of giving dogs and cats the love, care, and second chances they deserve.
Start shopping today, and please share with your friends and family! You can shop from anywhere in the country and have your order shipped directly to your door.
Join us for a self-paced, walking pub crawl to raise funds for cats in need! There will be a pre-party at 1pm with music, vendors, contests, and adoptable animals. We will also be stuffing the van for Pet Resource Center with supplies. Then from 2-5 pm stop by each of our catwalk locations for additional entries for raffle prizes and other activities.
All funds raised will support both Always & Furever and Pet Resource Center's programs and services assisting cats in need.
Come spend some time with us and see what all the paws-itive fun is about!
Bring the whole family and come enjoy some spooky fun, meet new furry friends, and make some memories!
TRICK-OR-TREAT WITH US! Take a look around our shelter and explore: Walking paths. Play yards Individual rooms. Cat lounge…and so much more!
All ages and abilities are welcome! Whether you come to volunteer, visit, play, learn, or simply spend some time with the animals, we’d love to have you!
Costumes, cuddles, and future best friends.
Join us for our Haul-O-Ween Adoption Event! Our senior pups will be dressed for the occasion and ready to mingle in hopes of finding their furever people. Visit the rest of our friends at our shelter right next door.
Not ready to foster or adopt? You can still help us make this month special for our rescue pets by taking part in our treat/toy drive! For the month of October, each rescue friend has their own Halloween container, complete with their photo and wishlist on display at the clubhouse to fill with goodies. We'll be sharing wishlists throughout the month for each pet, or we have a Community Cauldron for general single-ingredient treat and toy donations.
At the end of the month, we'll be sharing haul videos as our cats and dogs go through their goodies.
LITTLE WICHITA BARN SHELTER WISHLIST: https://buff.ly/DCiAe2X
Donations and Wishlists
Support our ongoing initiatives by donating essential items such as toys and treats for the animals, snacks for our staff, potty pads and supplements. Every donation helps make the lives of the animals in our care better.
