Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/12/2026

Having a cat sanctuary built around not just cats…but also people needing a refuge. People who want to heal by caring for animals that need healing. A sanctuary for a couple or 3 dogs who find their way to us.

And a hamster who was left behind when ICE kidnapped his family.

Wolfie was just a kitten when I found him at a home where the older gentleman became overwhelmed by the cats finding their way to his door. He only meant to feed the couple of cats he knew about but then they all came.

Then one day when I went by to pick up more cats to be fixed he showed me the body of a kitten he thought had died. This tiny kitten, barely 5 weeks old, was not dead but dangerously close. He had a “wolf worm” in his neck which I removed and then took to our veterinary partner. There we cleaned up the wound and after a round of antibiotics this kitten made it!

I named him Wolfie. He was to never be very friendly so he was a foster fail. But he was so loved and he just fit right into our Misfit Cats Sanctuary.

Wolfie passed at the age of 14. He loved our cats but the humans? We were appreciated for the care we took of our cats but other than that? Well other than that Wolfie just did not ever think too highly of humans. We were never to be his favorites.

But I sure did love my Wolfie. And wasn’t he just the most handsome cat?

Our Misfit Cat Sanctuary was the perfect home for Wolfie. He didn’t have to love even one human. We just needed him to be happy. And I do believe that he was.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/06/2026

Our Saturday Meals Day left me with a lot on my mind and in my heart. In many ways it was a heavy day but like every Meals Day I take a lot of love home with me.

We were low in our Meals Team folks today but we always make the process work. Our assembly team is phenomenal. Then when we hit the road to make deliveries it was Katie and I. And we made it work. Every meal was delivered. I also need to give credit for my two really good friends, Michele and Reginald. They helped us finish up our deliveries and seeing them always makes my heart feel good.

When our route hits the Fairfield area my heart just feels so much. I love the people we seek out every Meals Day. And seeing the smiles when we pull up just makes my soul feel good. But it hurts at the same time, life is never just one emotion. That is why I take very few pictures. We seek folks out who are at their lowest point, that is who we serve. Sharing food is for me a sacred act that goes way past just feeding a belly.

One of our friends had me so worried. In a wheelchair with swollen feet and a beautiful face wet with the sweat from a terribly hot day he just worried me. I gave him a meal but told him I’d be back.

Then around the corner to a group of people who I always pray for. We weren’t the only ones who pulled up, but we were the only ones not delivering poison. Across, in the alley, was the late model fancy ass car with tinted windows. Window rolled down, taking in money and handing small packages of poison back. Maybe I could not see them, but I’m sure he took in the message my face delivered. Neither of us are stupid so we stay on our side.

Outreach can present you with a moral fight inside of you that is often hard to navigate. We cannot come on as some moral crusaders if we want to continue serving. In spite of the anger I have to remember that we can only offer a way out when someone is ready. The drug man comes where he is invited. That is just the hard core reality. But it is the vulnerability of those we serve that breaks my heart completely even as we never stop serving. Addiction is an illness and we are failing, as a community, in giving folks a safe path out and into a better life. Rehab that does not lead to housing is just so wrong. But housing without wraparound services that will stay with folks as they take in life after addiction, life without help in dealing with undiagnosed mental illnesses and trauma will not work. Don’t try to tell me otherwise as I have 25 years to debate you with.

So we deliver our meals and other items to help folks living on these mean streets as we dance around the uneasy truce with the drug man. We will not put the people we serve in the middle as we hand out meals, hugs and prayers.

And before leaving I head to check on my friend one last time. I ask him to allow the medics to check on him, he agrees if I get him some Gatorade. Done. But he will not go to the hospital. After the medics leave I stay and he asks me to pray for him. So there, in the alley where we are both sweating from the heat, I pray for his protection. I tell him I love him as I leave him with 2 cold Gatorades and an extra lunch meal.

Laurie Green
Lori Eslick
Bettina Bowers
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

615-474-8390
safpaw.org

09/05/2026

Davidson County for 9/5/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Remember that our public libraries are available for folks seeking relief from this horrible heat. So go sit in the quiet for the day and read.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/04/2026

Davidson County for 9/4/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Remember that our public libraries are available for folks seeking relief from this horrible heat. So go sit in the quiet for the day and read.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/04/2026

Before one more day passes I want to share this past Saturday with you! It was what we call a “bonus” Lunch Meals Saturday and it was absolutely a heart filled day of serving.

Our Meals Team Coordinator, Lori Eslick, and the folks at Wild Heart Meditation Center planned this Saturday and I was so excited back when Lori told me about it.

Now Wild Hearts is a Buddhist Meditation Center in East Nashville. Please stop by and visit them! When I asked Stefanie to describe the folks there she said that “we are volunteers with open hearts and willing hands”. And that truly describes everyone that Lori and I met on Saturday.

Stefanie and the wonderful folks at Wild Hearts had contacted Lori about sponsoring a Meals Day Saturday. They did it all, the sandwiches and everything that goes into our Lunch Meals. They put them together and we picked them up Saturday morning to head out and deliver.

Stefani and I delivered all 200+ Lunch Meals and we had such a meaningful time getting to know each other better. She also volunteers with SAFPAW in our Saturday delivery days as a part of our assembly team so we already knew and loved her. But it was really nice working one on one with her.

And I love introducing people to the friends we deliver meals to on our Saturdays. To serve them means everything to us all.

It was a Saturday that truly allowed us to serve and provide food to the folks we so look forward to seeing.

❤️
Laurie Green
Lori Eslick
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/03/2026

Davidson County for 9/3/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Remember that our public libraries are available for folks seeking relief from this horrible heat. So go sit in the quiet for the day and read.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/02/2026

Davidson County for 9/2/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/02/2026

We need folks for this Saturday!

Our SAFPAW Meals team needs folks who can volunteer to help deliver lunch meals every other Saturday. The time we need you is from 11am to around 3:30pm. You will need your own vehicle and this is a volunteer position.

But it is so much more than that. It is a life saving, life affirming lesson in serving. It is truly bringing food for a hungry belly and love to every person we stop for.

We feed folks. We visit with them. We help with their pets, their housing, possible rehab and we just make sure folks know we love them.

We are not a religious organization, indeed all volunteers carry our own set of beliefs. We do not carry the weight of trying to pressure anyone into believing anything. All we seek to do is feed folks and serve them in any way that we can. The only rule we have is that you be judgement free and love with an open heart.

So let us know. Be a part of a team that hits the streets with lunch meals that we take to them, we don’t ask folks to come to us. Every other Saturday, and you make your own schedule.

Lori Eslick is our Meals Team Coordinator. Let her know you want to join us. You can also text our resource line at 615-474-8390.

❤️
Laurie Green
Lori Eslick
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

[email protected]
615-474-8390

[email protected]

09/02/2026

Please print the 5 posts below and carry them with you everywhere. Please be prepared to act. If you can carry water. Perhaps fruit cups. Bananas.

Carry bowls that you can pour water into for animals. Carry jugs of water with you.

And please, if you can afford them, buy fast food gift cards. Not only will these feed folks but they will allow them to get out of this dangerous heat we’ve been having.

There but for the grace of God go us all. We are all much closer to being homeless than we are to being wealthy.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/02/2026