Your volunteers and staff are carrying a lot.
Let's help them stay in the work.
Wellness, retention, and crisis support for volunteers & staff of animal shelters and rescues.
Trusted by volunteers, fosters, shelters, rescues and staff nationwide.
Built Outside the System
Most shelters and rescues care deeply about volunteer and staff wellbeing.
The challenge isn’t caring, it’s capacity.
The Thriving Volunteer provides volunteers and staff with dedicated resources for grief support, emotional wellness, continued learning, and community - without adding strain on the system itself.
Think of us as an extension of your existing support resources.
Support & COMMUNITY
For Volunteers
Volunteer Burnout Impacts Outcomes
Animal volunteers are often the heartbeat of a shelter or rescue.
When volunteers feel unsupported, overwhelmed, or emotionally exhausted, the effects ripple throughout the entire organization.
Volunteer Burnout affects:
Volunteer Retention
Staff workload
Foster engagement
Shelter culture
Animal outcomes
The Thriving Volunteer helps volunteers stay emotionally supported, connected, and resourced so they can continue showing up for the animals they love.
Why Volunteer Support Matters
Animal welfare is emotionally demanding work.
Volunteers regularly navigate grief, compassion fatigue, difficult outcomes, foster challenges, behavioral euthanasias, hoarding cases, burnout, conflict, and the emotional weight of caring deeply.
Yet many volunteers have nowhere to process those experiences with people who truly understand them.
When volunteers feel supported, they stay engaged longer, communicate more effectively, build stronger relationships with staff, and remain available for the animals who need them most.
Supporting volunteers isn't separate from animal welfare.
It's part of it.
PROGRAMS & CRISIS Support
For Staff
Staff Morale Impacts Results
Improved staff morale has a direct impact on:
Enhanced volunteer-staff relationships and clarity
Increased retention, more volunteers signing up, and less strain on staff
More positive shelter atmosphere that directly benefits the community, the people, the animals, and animal welfare at large
The Thriving Volunteer offers an array of programs and resources to set your staff up for success.
1-hour Lifeline Sessions for times of crisis, when your team needs emotional support the most
8-week programs to bring wellness into your environment and equip your staff with tools for effective communication, emotional and nervous system regulation, sleep improvement and more
Choose Your Support
1
Volunteer Memberships
Provide volunteers with ongoing emotional support through The Thriving Volunteer membership.
Includes:
Access to The Thriving Volunteer Online Membership
Weekly support huddles over Zoom
Continued Learning with guest experts like Patricia McConnell (The Other End of the Leash) and Jessica Dolce
Grief & burnout resources
Discussion boards & peer support
Resource library & replays
2
Lifeline Session
Support your team (staff and/or volunteers) through emotionally demanding moments.
Includes:
60-min guided Zoom session tailored to how your team needs to be supported
Best utilized when navigating hard moments together (i.e. hoarding cases, difficult case decisions, etc).
Pick a theme based on our pre-established agendas, or customize a session based on your team’s exact needs
3
8-Week Team Workshop
“Hold the Front Line” is designed to strengthen team wellbeing, connection & retention.
Includes:
One 8-week workshop, “Hold the Front Line” for your entire team, proven to strengthen staff (and volunteer) wellbeing, resilience and retention
Format: 1 week of workshop, followed by 1 week of integration
Topics include: Stress Reduction, Effective Communication Tools, Better Mood, Better Sleep, Empowered & Sustainable Service
“I first met Katya on a zoom call that was set up for Los Angeles County shelter system volunteers, and the focus was on sharing our experiences and building a sense of community for support. As many of you are well aware, volunteer work at any shelter comes with a range of unique challenges, both physical and emotional. Katya has taken the emotional experience of shelter volunteers and expanded it into a community of support. Any role that requires immense amounts of physical and emotional energy - whether that be parenting, caring for aging parents, or advocating for animals who may have experienced more than their share of challenges - can be some of the most rewarding, yet un-rewarded, work we do. Katya's community celebrates animal advocates by providing a compassionate place to celebrate, to grieve, and yes, to laugh, among those who truly "get it".
If you are passionate about helping animals and searching for a community who will support you through the good, the bad, and everything between - you have found your people.
— los angeles county shelter volunteer
Let’s Build a Support System for Your People
Your volunteers and staff take care of the animals.
Let’s now support them.
Questions before booking?
Email katyalidsky@gmail.com
