Seed the Pilot.
Double the Impact.
Keeping pets and their people together while creating pathways to meaningful, fairly compensated employment.
A proposed $10,000, 26-week dual-impact feasibility pilot developed from the experience of Athena’s Pawesome Pet Services.
Become a Founding PartnerExplore the PlanWhen life changes, love doesn't.
An illness, surgery, injury, mobility challenge or financial emergency shouldn't automatically mean losing a beloved companion animal.
Paws of Light aims to connect households facing temporary hardship with subsidized dog walks and basic pet care visits. At the same time, those assignments will create paid training and work opportunities for people who may face employment barriers.
Keep pets and people together
Work with hospice teams, rehabilitation providers, veterinary practices and community organizations to reach people before pet surrender becomes their only perceived option.
Open doors to paid work
Explore recruitment relationships with reentry organizations, veteran-serving groups and LGBTQIA+ community organizations. Offer paid training, supervised experience and fair compensation.
What $10,000 could make possible
These are proposed feasibility targets, not guaranteed results. Actual delivery depends on staffing, insurance, travel, training and referral demand.
Proven models. A new opportunity for Greenville.
Programs across the country show that practical pet-care assistance and pet-industry workforce development can create meaningful community benefits. Paws of Light proposes to test these complementary approaches together in a small, locally accountable pilot.
Pet Peace of Mind
Its About page reports helping more than 4,500 patients and 5,000 pets annually through programs serving seriously ill people and their companion animals.
Organization-reported annual reach; another section of its website lists lower figures. Not a measured surrender-prevention rate.
View organization and impact data ↗Pawsperity
Its current About page reports 92% job placement within six months in the latest reporting period, plus $49,000 median income for graduates working in grooming.
Organization-reported outcomes from a much longer, specialized grooming training program; not a forecast for Paws of Light.
View training and outcomes ↗PACT Colorado
Coordinates volunteer dog walking, grooming, litter-box help, pet food assistance, and veterinary transportation for older adults and people experiencing illness, disability, or housing insecurity.
A close service-model comparison. No verified numerical outcome is presented here; its temporary foster program is described as being developed.
Explore services ↗Crossroads Campus
Combines animal welfare with paid pet-industry job-training internships, housing, and support services for young adults facing employment and housing barriers.
Demonstrates an employment-pathway approach, not an equivalent short-term walking program. No unverified outcome number is claimed.
Explore the program ↗Sources are the organizations' own public reporting, reviewed November 2026. Programs vary in size, services, participant populations and measurement methods. None is represented as a confirmed Paws of Light partner.
How the seed funding would be used
Funding creates the capacity to test the initiative. The existing pet care business cannot absorb the added staffing and administration without dedicated resources.
Total proposed investment: $10,000.
Planning allocations, not final vendor quotes. The $1,500 coordination budget provides limited setup and management hours, not six months of full-time program administration.
A 26-week pilot, built to learn
Confirm policies, coverage, screening, client intake, and referral relationships.
Recruit two caregivers and provide paid training, supervision and safety preparation.
Provide subsidized visits while documenting hours, travel, costs and client outcomes.
Assess community need, worker opportunities, true operating costs and next-stage structure.
Hiring and service launch depend on readiness, adequate referrals and safety requirements. Partners are prospective, not confirmed.
We will measure both kinds of impact
🐾 Pet retention
Households served, visits completed, eligible requests unmet, client satisfaction and self-reported impact on avoiding surrender.
🤝 Employment pathways
Workers trained, paid hours, earnings, training completion and transitions into recurring assignments.
📊 Financial feasibility
True cost per visit, administration hours, shared-resource costs, funding runway and future revenue potential.
🌱 Organizational future
Evidence to evaluate whether Paws of Light should remain a distinct program or become an independent organization.
There is more than one way to help launch Paws of Light.
Community Supporter
Support safety, screening and onboarding.
Care Sponsor
Help fund subsidized visits for households in need.
Workforce Sponsor
Support paid training and caregiver work hours.
Founding Anchor
Help establish the pilot and its feasibility evaluation.
We also welcome prospective referral partners, workforce organizations, training providers, in-kind sponsors and community advocates.
This is a sponsorship and partnership invitation, not an offer of investment returns. Tax-deductibility has not been established. For a Squarespace interest form, add a native Form Block directly below this Code Block.