Your post stimulated a variety of recent thoughts.
Life for my partner, Tim, and me before sobriety began in 2023 was a muddle of impulses: fraught connections, random purpose, withering roots. Life is very different now.
He and I attend a group at a nearby rehab called Friends & Family. It’s a space where broken relationships can begin to mend. As an aside, the facilitator calls it Connections, recalling the often-cited 1970s Rat Park experiment, which suggested that addiction is not only about the substance; it’s also about isolation, environment, stress, connection, and meaning.
In any case, in 2024, someone with three dogs who was seeking treatment, but held back because of his pets, whose companionship paradoxically kept him going, asked our group if anyone could take care of them if he couldn’t find an alternate solution. I gave him my number.
Two years later, Tim and I have fostered 22 pets for 15 people. The facilitator of Friends & Family regularly draws attention to this at group level. His appreciation has become embarrassing, but I know it’s intended to give hope and serve as an example to residents who think they have no future.
Still, in just a few years, both roots you described as supporting significance have been met. We recently decided to formalize this voluntary service by becoming an official charity, so that we can expand a little and offer vet services.
This is where AI comes in. I have the same concerns as most people, but Tim and I likely wouldn’t have pursued this without its direction, especially moving through the red tape of the city, state, and IRS. Crash Cart Pet Haven became official last week, with a website coming soon.
We were both absolutely wasting our lives just a few years ago. Now, not so much.
We have accidentally built something worthwhile, sorely needed as it turns out, therefore contributing. We matter to the local recovery community—counselors, mental health professionals, prospective clients, and long-neglected pets—therefore connected.
So, significant.
Your essay crystallized this, so thanks for that!
P.S. The only downside is all the poop in the backyard. Thankfully, that isn’t part of my job description.
Oh wow, I feel hugely privileged you shared this with me here on this post Andrew, thank you… such an inspirational story and one that really brings to life connection and contribution… please share when the Crash Cart Pet Haven website is live, I want to learn more and support you guys… animals needing help always pulls at my heart strings, but so very cool in this case it is helping humans too of course 🥰
Hi Sarah,
Your post stimulated a variety of recent thoughts.
Life for my partner, Tim, and me before sobriety began in 2023 was a muddle of impulses: fraught connections, random purpose, withering roots. Life is very different now.
He and I attend a group at a nearby rehab called Friends & Family. It’s a space where broken relationships can begin to mend. As an aside, the facilitator calls it Connections, recalling the often-cited 1970s Rat Park experiment, which suggested that addiction is not only about the substance; it’s also about isolation, environment, stress, connection, and meaning.
In any case, in 2024, someone with three dogs who was seeking treatment, but held back because of his pets, whose companionship paradoxically kept him going, asked our group if anyone could take care of them if he couldn’t find an alternate solution. I gave him my number.
Two years later, Tim and I have fostered 22 pets for 15 people. The facilitator of Friends & Family regularly draws attention to this at group level. His appreciation has become embarrassing, but I know it’s intended to give hope and serve as an example to residents who think they have no future.
Still, in just a few years, both roots you described as supporting significance have been met. We recently decided to formalize this voluntary service by becoming an official charity, so that we can expand a little and offer vet services.
This is where AI comes in. I have the same concerns as most people, but Tim and I likely wouldn’t have pursued this without its direction, especially moving through the red tape of the city, state, and IRS. Crash Cart Pet Haven became official last week, with a website coming soon.
We were both absolutely wasting our lives just a few years ago. Now, not so much.
We have accidentally built something worthwhile, sorely needed as it turns out, therefore contributing. We matter to the local recovery community—counselors, mental health professionals, prospective clients, and long-neglected pets—therefore connected.
So, significant.
Your essay crystallized this, so thanks for that!
P.S. The only downside is all the poop in the backyard. Thankfully, that isn’t part of my job description.
Oh wow, I feel hugely privileged you shared this with me here on this post Andrew, thank you… such an inspirational story and one that really brings to life connection and contribution… please share when the Crash Cart Pet Haven website is live, I want to learn more and support you guys… animals needing help always pulls at my heart strings, but so very cool in this case it is helping humans too of course 🥰