Meet Some of Our Volunteers
Adele is the President of Almost Home Rescue and has been with AHR since it’s beginning in 2005. She was instrumental in helping to get AHR up and running. Adele and her husband, Ron, live in Southern Maine and enjoy the company of Max an 11 yr old Bichon Frise arrived as a local surrender from a neglect case. Adele is a retired a Paramedic/Firefighter and former Animal Control Officer. She also volunteers on the Cumberland County Animal Response Team, the State of Maine Animal Resource Team, the State of Maine Animal Control Association and is the Relief Society President in her church. Ron and Adele, along with the pack have fostered over 45 long term dogs throughout the years.
Karen has been volunteering for Almost Home since 2008 when she adopted her beloved Levi, who passed in Dec 2017. She is the Vice President of AHR. In the past she has volunteered as AHR’s Logistics Coordinator and an Adoption Coordinator for the ARF of Ms, Madison Ark, Lone Pine, Wolf Pond, and Wynne shelters. She also volunteers at transports, doing home visits, and an adoption event once in awhile too. Karen has fostered over 80 dogs for AHR. She is the mother to two children and lives in So NH with her “granddog”, Willow, an AHR rescue from Alabama, and Otis, a little border terrier mix from West Virginia that she adopted thru AHR in 2014.
Margaret lives in Portland with her three beloved dogs – two of them adopted from Almost Home – 9 year old yellow lab, Mack, who she rescued from a neglect situation many years ago, as well as Mabel and Duchess! Margaret is an investment professional with RBC Wealth Management in Portland . She began fostering for Almost Home Rescue in July of 2013. Margaret says that providing the dogs with a loving home while they wait for their forever families has proven to be one of the most rewarding experiences she has ever had. In addition to fostering, Margaret is the AHR treasurer and is now in charge of development, volunteers at adoption events, does home visits and helps with transport.
Patty is our Foster Coordinator. She has the craziest volunteer job that anyone could have in dog rescue. Patty is constantly placing dogs into foster homes and is always looking for foster homes. She has logistics down to a science and knows all of our foster homes personally. Patty lives in Southern Maine and has two rescue dogs of her own.
Martie is one of AHR’s Adoption Coordinators. She has been a volunteer with Almost Home since 2007. She is currently monitoring our former shelter accounts and handles any dogs that may be returned from any of the following former shelters and rescues. DeQueen Rescue, Humane Society of Sevier County (HSSC), Wynne, Lone Pine, Southern Pines and Hub City. Martie also handles many cross posts for smaller local shelters located in Maine. She lives on Mount Desert Island with her patient & supportive spouse, a pack of cats (who are very good at teaching dogs how to be polite to feline roommates), and usually a couple of foster dogs.
Nylah is also an Adoption Coordinator. She is currently coordinating for the Wolf Pond Sanctuary located in Mississippi. Nylah was introduced to Almost Home Rescue when she adopted Comet, a Lab/Airedale mix, in 2011. A year later, she fostered Elvis (now Hitch), a Border Collie cross, for about a week before deciding to make him a permanent member of her pack. Since then, she has fostered dozens of dogs, both short and long-term.
Jeannie is our Volunteer Coordinator and Co-Event Coordinator. Jeannie also volunteers with transports, home visits, adoption events, fundraising and an occasional foster. She adopted Kirby, her first AHR rescue in 2006 and recently adopted Liam, now Jasper in the fall of 2016. Jeannie has been very active in rescue prior to joining AHR and has been a AHR volunteer for a few years but a supporter since 2006. Besides helping dogs find their forever homes Jeannie enjoys meeting new people and making new friends. Jeannie lives in Bar Mills with her husband and her two AHR rescues. She is retired and is thankful to be a part of the AHR team to help enjoy her retirement.
Margo lives in Midcoast Maine (South Waldoboro) with her husband, Bruce, and their five AHR dogs. A former R.N. and business owner, she loves doing the vet references and landlord checks, along with Carmie, because she can volunteer from home in her pajamas! Their three grown sons are also dog rescuers/adopters in other states.She tells them not to fight it…it’s genetic! She also does midcoast home visits and adoption events when able. It’s all about the dogs!
Kim as been fostering for AHR with the help of her family and her dedicated staff at Charlies Friends since 2013. I was first approached to foster Gracie by a previous employee who understood my love of all animals but especially dogs. Gracie was in another foster home and although she was greatly loved it was not working out. We took Gracie in and have not stopped fostering since. My daughter Nikolle tried to create collage of all the dogs we have fostered but could not get them all on one collage. I love working with the dogs who need some socialization with both people and other dogs. To see these dogs come out of their shells and trust is very rewarding and inspiring! Currently I have four pups, one of which was originally a foster. I also have two long term fosters Emma and Dodge who are definitely a part of the pack at Charlies Friends!
resident of Bowdoinham along with a menagerie of pets and her partner Denise. Amy is a veterinarian and owns Topsham Veterinary Wellness Center in Topsham, Maine. She is happy to see newly adopted pets from Almost Home Rescue for their free first exams. She has also helped with some of the medical concerns of foster pets while they wait for their forever homes. It is a rewarding experience for Amy and Denise to be part of the AHR foster program as they wait patiently to find their own future puppy. The foster dogs that stay with them also have lots of exposure to people and other pets since they come to her veterinary office with Amy every day.
Tracy is a lifelong animal lover and started volunteering with AHR in December of 2014 after losing her beloved Cy and Raven in 2013 & 2014. Although she didn’t feel that she was ready for another dog of her own, she felt that she could no longer sit on the sidelines and do nothing when so many wonderful dogs were in need. Since then Tracy has fostered over a dozen dogs and adopted two of her fosters, Grace and Busy Bee. She also helps us by doing home visits for potential adopters and new fosters families in the Southern Maine area and participates in the transport between North Hampton, NH and Scarborough, ME. Tracy is a registered dietitian and outdoor enthusiast. She lives in South Portland, ME. with her canine and feline family.
Alan & Jill have 3 kids & many furry critters. This is from Jill: We run a auto repair shop together in our hometown in Maine. We do almost everything as a team. My passion for rescue started as far back as I can remember. I would rescue strays on my way to school, birds, cats… I even had a pet squirrel that slept with me! In 2012 when we lost our 2 beloved pets with in a week of each other, I knew I wanted to foster. Alan was on a motorcycle trip, I called him & he didn’t hesitate. So 2 days later we had our first foster, Mozie (Holy Moly) and we haven’t stopped since.
Kiersten lives in Gray, Maine. She has a long history of working in Marketing & Event Planning (her last position was VP of Marketing for the Portland Pirates and before that, The New Yorker magazine in NYC). Kiersten is a life-long dog lover and husky (among others) owner. She adopted a Siberian Husky, Pepper, from AHR in 2009 and has been volunteering with AHR since. She adopted her second dog (also a Husky mix) from AHR a couple of years ago. She also does creative work for the organization when she can. Kiersten has done some short term fostering, too, and she loves staying in touch with the wonderful families of her past guests.
Mona was born and raised in E. Machias, ME. She moved to the Augusta ME area after high school and has been there since. Mona is semi-retired works at Hannaford part-time. She love to travel the U.S. National Parks. Mona started fostering dogs in Feb 20, 2015 and kittens in April of that same year. She says that she absolutely loves it!
Sandy started doing home visits in the Bangor area after adopting her cute little Terrier mix, Pip, from Almost Home Rescue in November 2006. Sadly, in April 2015, kidney failure took Pip across the Rainbow Bridge. Since 1979, Sandy has ONLY adopted from shelters and rescues, and as you can see by her picture, doesn’t limit her love to just rescue dogs! In the past 33 years, Sandy has cared for six rescue dogs, 4 Amazon Parrots, a pony named Ricky and a Connemara Pony named Charity. As a single parent – whose son is a junior at Harvard – Sandy made sure to teach the values of love and compassion for all creatures.
Judy relocated to Windham, Maine from Memphis in 1996. She became a real estate broker in 1998, and decided to stay and put down roots. A single mom, her sons are 34 and 32 and live in Nashville and Los Angeles. Judy lives with a 12 year old adopted Akita, named Marvin who came from a Memphis high kill shelter, but is a lab in an Akita suit. Judy also found an abandoned red tabby cat in 2008 in Portland. She was going to re home Mr. Lucky, but he charmed his way into her home and has been there ever since! He went from the crack house to the lake house! He is quite the guy and the first cat Judy has had since childhood! Judy loves doing home visits and public relations projects for Almost Home. Judy says, “I try to keep in touch with former home visit families and their stories of rescue are what drive me.”
Mark Mayberry has been volunteering with Almost Home Rescue since 2006. Mark helps in many ways – he does home visits for prospective adopters, he attends adoption events, he stores and relocates our humane trap when needed, and most importantly he provides a wonderful foster home! Mark always steps up to foster if it means that a dog may be left behind. Mark loves all dogs, but especially beagles. He is also a foster volunteer for Tall Tails Beagle Rescue! Mark is currently fostering Sparrow and Piper for AHR and has recently adopted Emma, a senior beagle he began fostering several months ago when she was surrendered because her elderly owner could no longer care for her. She has become a member of Mark’s pack and is a very lucky lady to spend her golden years with Mark.
Ashley discovered her passion for dogs and dog rescue when she adopted her first dog, Ruby in 2014. She lost her tragically after four months and then rescued her current dog, Roxy shortly after. And she’s accepted her role as a crazy dog lady with pride. She works full time for an optometrist doing medical billing and owns her own photography business, Magnolia Grace Photography. She joined Almost Home in 2016. She finds volunteering with Almost Home such a rewarding experience, to unite dogs with their fur-ever families. She currently does home visits for the rescue, as well as photographing events. When not working or volunteering, you can find her and Roxy at the local dog park.
Bonnie currently lives in Southern Maine, has been with Almost Home Rescue since 2006. She is a past president and is currently fostering and helping with transports for Almost Home Rescue. Bonnie has done every job that AHR has throughout her years of service.
Missy has been with the rescue since 2009 and lives in southern Maine with her husband, three daughters, and her four fur babies. Three of which are Almost Home Rescue alumni! She believes fostering has been a huge part of teaching her children about compassion and hope for animals and will always have rescue as part of normal family life. Her favorite dogs to foster are the shy and timid ones. “One of the greatest rewards in fostering is seeing the walls come down and seeing the happiness emerge from the dogs eyes…it’s rewarding beyond words to me.” Her latest adoption is sweet Livvy from Mississippi who holds a special place in all of our hearts. Missy has worked as a dental hygienist in Scarborough area for the last 20 years and enjoys activities with her family.