Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw SAFPAW believes in knocking down poverty obstacles that exist for those we serve and their pets.

The Southern Alliance for People and Animal Welfare (SAFPAW) is a local non-profit serving Davidson County by working to improve the quality of life in our community for people and pets in need. SAFPAW provides pet food, supplies, and veterinary care free of charge pet owners who are homeless, or living at or below the poverty level. Our weekly Spay/Neuter Transport picks up every Thursday morning and brings each pet back that same evening. Animals are spayed or neutered, fully vaccinated, dewormed, treated for fleas & ticks and nails trimmed. In addition our weekly transport helps with basic wellness pet needs. Our homeless outreach program provides food, camping supplies, and other basic needs to those we serve. We also assist those looking to secure more permanent housing by helping with transportation, acquiring necessary IDs (such as social security card, state ID or drivers license, birth certificate, etc.), working through the application process, and everything in-between, including move-in day! SAFPAW is able to make a tremendous positive impact in the lives of people and pets throughout Davidson County, but only with the help of our generous and compassionate community. Swing by our page at Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - SAFPAW and "Like" us to stay up to date on all of the amazing work being done every day. And don't forget to come check out our website too (www.safpaw.org) and consider making a donation so that we can all continue to build our community better and stronger every day!

Right now I need our sanctuary more than ever. The simple pictures our sanctuary manager sends me that shows him sitting...
01/08/2026

Right now I need our sanctuary more than ever. The simple pictures our sanctuary manager sends me that shows him sitting outside with Rowdy. We don’t solve any of the world problems we are faced with at our peaceful abode. But there is a lot of front porch sitting.

And I found that this peace was what I really needed today.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

01/06/2026

We see the need for elder shelters every day on the streets.

I wanted to get back on track with our series on all of the programs that make up our SAFPAW mission. Our 4th program to...
01/06/2026

I wanted to get back on track with our series on all of the programs that make up our SAFPAW mission. Our 4th program to be highlighted is our Outreach Program that serves those who are not housed and this also includes their pets.

This program is our oldest and it began in 2001 down in Old Tent City. I had read an article in the paper about the homeless camps down there and it mentioned their pets. So I grabbed a friend and we headed down there with food for everyone, pets and people. Jerry and I stayed for hours and I left there with the clearest vision I had ever been given of the future I wanted for the organization I founded in 1998.

In 2001 I had not heard the term “homeless outreach worker” although that was what I now was, and one so proud to serve. I began with the goal of helping to make sure their pets were fixed, vaccinated and fed. And I continued while also learning all about camping needs, probation meetings, medical appointments, how to regain all forms of ID. And how to secure housing plus the obstacles and the complicated maze that was. My teachers were those I was serving although I went home in the evenings and spent hours looking up everything on homelessness and encampments and how to best serve. I also learned the true meaning of epiphany. Because my life was never going to be the same and I was so grateful for the lessons I was learning and the path I was now determined to take.

Like all programs, doing good works comes with a cost attached and you cannot separate good works from the costs. Winter is especially expensive and now with our war against poverty that punishes people and not the system it is harder. Our Mayors office, the public and the police are relentless in tearing down camps and causing our unhoused to be so transient that putting down any kind of roots has become impossible. This makes their lives harder and our work so much more complicated.

Their needs center around:
Tents and sleeping bags
Camp heaters and propane
Blankets
Lanterns
Food boxes & water
Pet food

The cost for this program averages between $1,000.00 and $1,500.00 a month. This does not include the veterinary costs for the pets belonging to the people we serve.

As with all programs, the good we can do depends upon the donations we receive. There is no delicate way to put it. We can put our feet on the ground daily and we can serve but the needs we can meet depend upon you.

You may not realize the impact of your donations but I see it daily and those we serve are grateful. Your donations made it possible for us to deliver heaters and propane this past week. I hope you know that you helped so many to not just survive the dangerously low temps but to also feel warmth as they slept.

Thank you.
Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawnashville@gmail.com

01/03/2026

NASHVILLE & Davidson County for Saturday, 1/3/26.

Metro will open the emergency weather (warming) shelter at 7PM. It will remain open until 7AM tomorrow (Sunday).

Located at 3230 Brick Church Pike. And please bring your dog or cat, do not leave pets behind, please!

You will get bus passes for the ride back to home base.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

Our sanctuary manager, Michael Lash, sent me these pictures tonight. It was a bit chilly, but he sits outside for Rowdy,...
01/03/2026

Our sanctuary manager, Michael Lash, sent me these pictures tonight. It was a bit chilly, but he sits outside for Rowdy, our sanctuary dog and protector of all cats.

We recently had our front porch screened in by our friends Mike and Belle who moved into housing not too long ago. When the weather gets warmer it will serve as a catio for our cats, and of course a place where Rowdy and Michael can sit outside. We will be putting a couple of cat trees out there so the cats can climb up high so they can keep an eye out for birds, safely of course.

Our sanctuary is not just about saving lives but making those lives so much better. It gives me joy to see our cats come out of their trauma and feel not just safe but happy. And to watch Rowdy take his role as cat protector so seriously. He loves his cats.

Along the way we are always excited for our cats that get adopted! Our sanctuary is a bit different. We have cats who are up for adoption and indeed our adoption program is a wonderfully growing program. But we also have cats who come to us because they have nowhere else to go. Some are feral at first, some have aged out of other programs and some are just sweet misfits who didn’t fit in anywhere. But they fit in with us because there are no expectations other than becoming the cats that they want to be. If they never become “adoptable” that is okay. Because they have a home with us.

And Michael and Rowdy keep everything running as it should, along with volunteers who assist us at our sanctuary.

We are working towards a bigger sanctuary a bit further out, with space enough where more people can live and more land. If you would love to explore this please get in touch. Our goal is a sanctuary close enough for people to visit but out aways so that we can truly be a sanctuary. This is a vision we’ve already made a reality, but we are ready to expand it.

I want to thank Maggie Mandell Ramsey for letting me come out and ask her a thousand questions about her screened in catio. Thank you Maggie, your suggestions and experience went into this project!

❤️
Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawnashville@gmail.comt

12/31/2025

NASHVILLE & Davidson County for Wednesday, 12/31.

Metro will open the emergency weather (warming) shelter at 7PM. It will remain open until 7AM tomorrow (Thursday).

Located at 3230 Brick Church Pike. And please bring your dog or cat, do not leave pets behind, please!

You will get bus passes for the ride back to home base.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

As I was driving away from my last stop of the day I needed to reflect on this couple I just met. They were searching on...
12/30/2025

As I was driving away from my last stop of the day I needed to reflect on this couple I just met. They were searching on their cell for a connection to help them survive our bitter cold winter and they found us. They also have 2 dogs and that is where our heart is. To not just serve people but animals.

Their camping spot is impressive and I’ve been doing this work for 25 years. But they keep it truly on the DL, it is both hidden and accessible. I thought of the saying, “hiding in plain sight”. It is a disgrace that people who are not housed have to do that. I cannot comprehend why we do not provide housing for people trying to get back on their feet when recent reports tell us how many apartments and vacant houses sit empty.

The recent storms had damaged their tent beyond repair and had allowed the rain to soak all of their belongings. They had no source of heat. So I brought them the backpacks that my friend Heather McDonald Norman and her children made plus a new tent, sleeping bags, blankets, coats, camp heater plus propane and food for them and their dogs.

They are too far out to get to the warming shelter and one of their dogs is elderly and moving about is hard for her. But they have been applying for work in their area and they are trying. I’m not sure there is more we can ask of anyone, nor should we.

I enjoyed meeting them. And we will continue to work with them. Everytime we go out I come home with so many feelings. We are always thankful for our donors when we can provide what people need to survive homelessness. Thankful when we can move someone towards permanent housing. I come home thankful when I know that someone is warm in spite of only having a tent, sleeping bags and a camping heater. A few blankets. I could not sleep if I did not make the efforts we make, not on nights this cold.

And no, there are no pictures save this one. I cannot risk giving away their location and I will not ever do so for the sake of a post.

But we will continue to remind that while we move our thermostat up a degree there are folks outside huddled somewhere trying to make it through the night. So please help us to make sure they not only survive but find some comfort.

Love,
Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawnashville@gmail.com

So today we hit the streets and handed out hand, feet and body warmers. And sleeping bags, tents and back packs made by ...
12/30/2025

So today we hit the streets and handed out hand, feet and body warmers. And sleeping bags, tents and back packs made by our friend Heather McDonald Norman and her children Finn, Hadley, Parker and Sophie. Allow me to share the amazing list of items they included in the backpacks:

Hat
Gloves
Scarf
Socks
Chapstick
Hand warmers
Snacks
Juice pouch
Maxi pads for the female backpacks

I have to add that her family all decided to cut back on Christmas so they could buy and assemble these 50! backpacks. Heather and her family have done this for several years and these backpacks are so appreciated.

If your family, workplace or place of worship would like to do the same please let us know. They are so needed and so appreciated.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawnashville@gmail.com

12/29/2025

NASHVILLE & Davidson County for Monday, 12/29.

Metro will open the emergency weather (warming) shelter at 7PM. It will remain open until 7AM tomorrow (Tuesday).

Located at 3230 Brick Church Pike. And please bring your dog or cat, do not leave pets behind, please!

You will get bus passes for the ride back to home base.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

When you are sharing stories of a sweet dog we adopted back in 2020 and they become a Christmas gift for the ages. I had...
12/29/2025

When you are sharing stories of a sweet dog we adopted back in 2020 and they become a Christmas gift for the ages.

I had brought dog food plus a food box to a family living in a hotel on Murfreesboro Road. They had lost their apartment and were struggling. The husband was in a wheelchair and all they had to live on was SSI disability. The hotel manager was telling them their large black lab had to go and if truth be told they were having a hard time giving Emma any kind of life in a cramped hotel room. But they truly loved her and could not stand the thought of the hotel manager calling animal control.

I fell in love with Emma, having a soft spot for black labs. I called my friend Denise Eversmeyer Taylor with Adopt a Golden to ask her for advice. She and her husband Douglas Taylor agreed to foster Emma while I searched for a home. Now Emma was already considered old at the age of 6. So this was no easy assignment. But another friend, Daniel McDow told me about a possibility. His mother, Janie Reesor is a dear friend and her mother and sister in Florida had lost their elderly dog and they were missing all that unconditional love.

I’ve been at this since 1998 so I am grateful for all the connections made along the way. Friendships formed and partnerships cultivated.

After many conversations an adoption was approved. Emma had been spayed many years prior so all she needed was a senior exam, HW test and vaccines updated.

Dan picked Emma up and drove her to Florida, where she has been thoroughly spoiled ever since. Janie keeps me updated and sends pictures and every picture just fills me with joy.

I also learned that Emma got several new stuffed animals for Christmas. Sometimes this work I do brings me so much joy.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawnashville@gmail.com

Our last Lunch Meal Delivery Day of 2025 was beautiful. We had new delivery volunteers and Courtney, Wes and Katie just ...
12/28/2025

Our last Lunch Meal Delivery Day of 2025 was beautiful. We had new delivery volunteers and Courtney, Wes and Katie just fit this role like they’d been with us for years.

And the children we serve! Poverty makes childhood so complicated and hard for the adults raising them to provide. But all a child needs is unconditional and always present love. Yet those are the very needs that poverty steals. The adults are so worn out from trying to stay housed, stay fed and clothed, pay bills. Parent Teacher conferences? When you can’t get off work to go then you just can’t. You can’t risk getting fired. Help with homework and knowing where their children are at all times? Honey that is a privilege you don’t have when you are working 2-3 jobs just to stay afloat.

We see the faces of the adults and the children. The tired effort they make every damn day and the innocence of a child who has not grasped the concept of poverty yet. We see the determination in spite of it all.

Our lunch meal deliveries don’t change the world. But when we hand a hard working adult enough lunch meals for every child and when we hand a child a lunch meal and they grin when they see the fancy cookie inside, that just means everything to us. A little belly will be full and their adult can put their money towards tomorrow’s meals. Today was taken care of.

Lori Eslick
Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawmeals@gmail.com
safpawnashville@gmail.com

Tomorrow morning is our last Lunch Meal Delivery day of 2025. I have the van loaded with everything we need for the meal...
12/27/2025

Tomorrow morning is our last Lunch Meal Delivery day of 2025. I have the van loaded with everything we need for the meals to bring to Eastwood Christian Church, where we assemble the lunch bags. Around 10am the volunteers who made the sandwiches will be dropping off their offerings all safely wrapped and ready to make our lunch meals complete. Our Meals Coordinator, Lori Eslick has made sure I knew what all we needed and that all of the volunteers have been confirmed.

I’d like to think that we work to fulfill the first 3 tenets expected of those who serve.

To find the lost.
That is why we stress the delivery part of this program. Our neighbors who are struggling with homelessness, addictions, mental illness…they won’t always come to a building. And most of the time they aren’t able to. So we go and look for them. Stopping our cars for people we see in an alleyway. A path on an off road that leads to a camp. A woman at old Tent City told me once that she always felt love inside every lunch meals bag we served her and her words fed me for a long time.

To heal the broken.
Healing takes time and many, many visits. The folks we serve who are trying to recover from a lifetime of trauma will not be healed quickly. I remember a mother with 4 young children in one of the units where we knock on each door. At first she opened the door with thinly veiled hostility, but she took 5 lunch meals. A good mother will do what she has to do to care for and protect her children. After our 3rd visit she smiled when she saw us at the door. Did we heal her? Of course not. But we laid the groundwork for healing, I think. In fact I know we did. Every time you show someone real kindness they realize they are not alone and that there are people who care. That allows the next person who reaches a hand out to her to find a door not so firmly shut to keep them out.

To feed the hungry.
And that is what we set out to do. Perhaps some we serve a lunch meal to are only wanting food enough to fill their hungry belly. Perhaps that is all they are ready to accept. If that is all someone needs and wants on that Saturday we are good with that. No expectations. No smiles or thanks asked for or needed. We are just hoping you find love inside along with the food and juice offerings.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
safpawnashville@gmail.com
safpawmeals@gmail.com

Address

1326 Plum Street
Madison, TN
37115

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm
Friday 9am - 6:30pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

+16154748390

Website

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