On March 12th, HEART Portland arranged for a group of thirty-five 6th-8th graders and their principal, Filip Hristic, from Creative Science School, to meet PAW Team Executive Director, Cindy Scheel, and learn about her organization’s role in the community.
PAW Team is a unique organization in that it impacts two social issues – animals and homelessness. PAW Team keeps people and their companion animals together by providing essential veterinary health care to the animals of people in poverty. The students were about half way through the Humane Living Program 10-Lesson Plan so this served as a great example of compassion in action.
Cindy provided an introduction to PAW Team and spoke about the causes of homelessness and who their clients are, led a brief Q&A, took them on a tour of the facility, and then answered some more questions. After lunch, the students met Dave Sullivan, a homeless man and client of PAW Team, who had stenciled out mural images in the hallway and clinic entrances for the kids to paint. Reprocessed paint was donated by METRO.
HEART Portland Program Director Dani said about the lasting impact of the murals, “These murals are a legacy for the kids of Creative Science School. They will be seen and appreciated by hundreds of homeless people, volunteers and PAW Team staff. I think they’ll bring smiles to the faces of others and brighten up the space.”
Cindy said about the kids’ new murals, “They worked with enthusiasm [and] initiative. We’ve been looking at them for a couple days now and they are just so charming and make this place feel so much warmer and alive! Thank you for this opportunity to reach out to the students. I hope it is the beginning of a great relationship.”
We are so grateful to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) whose generous grant made this trip possible.
To learn more about PAW team and their services such as flea treatments, vaccinations, vet exams and more, check out their website www.pawteam.org.
