Humane World for Animals for the past three years has honored dedicated everyday heroes for animals with its More Than a Pet Community Hero Award. This year, Chantal Wadsworth was voted – out of all those in HWA’s huge network — the recipient of the award.
Chantal started her own nonprofit, RezRoads Rescue, and has made exceptional contributions to advancing equity in access to pet care and resources in the Navajo Nation. The honor also recognizes the community organization that nominated her, Partnership With Native Americans, with a grant to provide essential support services for people and pets.
Chantal, from Shiprock, N.M., has dedicated her life to animal welfare in a community where access to resources is extremely limited. With only two veterinary clinics on the Navajo Nation (encompassing more than 27,000 square miles across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah), and significant barriers related to cost, distance, transportation and language, Chantal works to ensure that families can get the veterinary care they need for their pets by providing financial support, coordinating appointments and personally transporting animals to appointments.
She regularly connects residents to clinics, calls people without internet access and provides guidance in the Navajo language so that elders and families facing financial challenges are not excluded. She also founded the first-ever pet pantry on the Navajo Nation.
The award provides $5,000 to Chantal and a $10,000 grant to the organization that nominated her, Partnership With Native Americans.
More than 20 million pets in the U.S. live with families experiencing poverty or residing in underserved areas. These are areas where access to veterinary care, pet food and pet-friendly housing is limited.
The other finalists this year were:
Jewell Brown of Nashville, Tenn, nominated by Pet Community Center, a nonprofit veterinary clinic, for consistent source of support for her community, particularly people and pets experiencing housing insecurity..
Luisa Lopez of Atlanta, Ga., nominated by LifeLine Animal Project for connecting community members with the resources they need to keep their pets.
If you know of a hero for animals in your community, shoot us an email to let us know. There are so many humane beings out there making a difference for animals. As Jewell notes, “The little things you can do can mean a whole lot to somebody.”
