Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Mairose
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Dogs have always been my comfort. I was an anxious kid, an only child looking for connection and companionship. My dogs were my siblings. Animals were magic to me.
During college at Wash U, my mental health took a beating (happy to extrapolate here!) and I found solace and healing in fostering dogs. Imagine it: a tiny 700 SF apartment with 2 dogs of my own and 4 fosters. It was chaos, but it was beautiful. When my husband decided to go to medical school, I put my law school aspirations on the backburner and at 7 months pregnant, bit the bullet and started a nonprofit.
Secondhand Hounds’ mission was to save some dogs: my first goal was 30 dogs in 4 months. We rescued 80. A small community started growing, evolving, and inspiring change. 15 years later, we rebranded to become The Bond Between. This organization and it’s staff, volunteers, fosters, and donors have collectively saved 33,000 animals, grown the largest pet food shelf in Minnesota to distribute over 400,000 lbs of pet food annually, started a respite foster program for victims of domestic violence (and grown it to encompass many other people looking to catch a break), and opened the very first public facing Veterinary Center to support the mission of the Bond Between. This is just a smattering of the programs run through our organization and I can truly say it’s because of our community. Success is not attained by any one person. It is attained by a committed group of people inspired by a mission and a vision. At The Bond Between we believe animals are magic and we strive to build, support, and reinforce those bonds every single day.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Entrepreneurship and smooth are antonyms in my opinion! I love bumps and roadblocks – they lead to growth and brainstorming and creativity. No, our path has been anything but smooth, but we don’t see that as a downside. Off the top of my head, here are a few roadblocks we have come across: Not having enough fosters, parvovirus and other contagious diseases, cost of veterinary care, the founder (me!) having no business background, emotional fatigue of staff, dependency on fundraising. I will use the last one as an example of how bumps can turn into great ideas. In 2016 we spent $1.2 million on veterinary care at outside veterinary clinics. We also were seeing a reduction in donations during the election year. After talking about how to become a little less dependent on donations, the idea of starting our own internal Veterinary Center with a client component become a spark that led us to open The Bond Between Veterinary Center in 2019. This venture is now responsible for 15% of our annual revenue, allowing us to sustain our core programs during donation slumps.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Bond Between is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that focuses on building the bond between humans and animals. We are known for being a pioneer in the animal rescue and welfare landscape
We were founded in 2009 as Secondhand Hounds. Since then, we have rescued over 33,000 dogs and cats with the help of thousands of fosters, volunteers, and supporters in our community. Our organization has grown from a rescue to a first-in-its-class animal well-being organization!
We continue to provide safe shelter, proper veterinary care, and daily necessities for animals while working hard to help them build a bond with humans. We also focus on supporting the bonds that already exist between people and pets with our pet food shelf, respite foster care program, and focus on social services.
We wake up every morning saying YES to connecting people and animals, caring for them, and helping them fill each other’s hearts.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Hiking with my family and our dogs. I loved pretending we were foragers and discovering new lands. I still love to pretend to do this when I am hiking! There is nothing quite like being outside in nature, running with your dog. It reminds me that we are all connected, that we have a duty to protect wild spaces, and that we are happiest when we have a long range view of the world around us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thebondbetween.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebond_between/
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheBondBetweenRescue
