Beck’s Place demand heats up

Some days Maureen Hodges wouldn’t go out in public if it not for her dog, Leo James.

The 1 1/2-year-old chihuahua eases the symptoms of the Lynnwood woman’s depression and anxiety, which have worsened from being homeless on and off for the past seven years. She was accepted into the YWCA’s Pathways for Women program two months ago, but the shelter doesn’t allow pets.

The family Leo had been staying with temporarily is moving. He would normally stay in Hodges’ car, but that isn’t an option because of the summer’s high temperatures. Hodges thought she might have to give up her beloved companion.

“He’s a great support for me,” she said.

Her case isn’t unique, and may become more common. Beck’s Place founder Melanie Ryan said her Monroe-based social services organization has been taking multiple calls daily from owners unable to keep their pets safe in the heat. An organization or agency will occasionally call on someone’s behalf, she said.

Dogs and cats aren’t built like humans, Ryan said. They can’t sweat to cool down. While the cold seasons are hard, hot weather is usually more trying on pets, which is why Beck’s Place is seeing a higher need now.

Ryan believes the challenges her clients face are reflective of what the community experiences as a whole. Beck’s Place offers services to support the connection between people and their pets, making it a fairly unique organization in Washington, she said.

Hodges is not unlike other women Ryan has worked with. Her struggles first started when her husband divorced her more than 5 years ago. He had been the family’s sole provider. She hadn’t worked for years.

Now she is disabled and dealing with more than one illness. She can’t find work, but is hopeful she will get into housing for people who are chronically homeless soon.

Hodges heard about Beck’s Place through another woman in the YWCA Pathways for Women’s program. She called it a lifesaving opportunity that will spare her a very painful goodbye. Leo will first go to Myownly Boarding Kennel on Woods Creek in Monroe until Ryan finds him a foster home.

If Hodges wants to see Leo, Ryan will work with her to schedule a visit. Sometimes they go to Sam’s Cats and Dogs, Naturally in Monroe, which, along with Myownly, has been a close partner of Beck’s Place since it was founded three years ago, Ryan said.

Ryan took Leo from Hodges in Everett on Friday afternoon, where they also met up with Ruth and Kara Siedlicki. The mother and daughter have been homeless for about a year.

“It was just a snowball effect, and we ended up living in the car,” Ruth Siedlicki said.

She lost her job. Her unemployment ran out. Then Kara Siedlicki turned 18, and child support payments stopped.

People ask Siedlicki how she could have let that happen to her family. She says she tried to stop it. She didn’t want to become homeless, and didn’t believe she ever would.

“Not in a million years — not in a million years,” she said. “It can happen to anyone.”

Siedlicki has a new job as a contractor at Boeing, and is staying at a women’s shelter. She plans to get housing as soon as she can.

“When you start a new job, it takes a while to get back to normal; it takes a while to get back on your feet,” she said.

Kara is working too, and sharing a room at a friend’s house. Their chihuahua, Apollo, has been kept in a truck outside the home, but neighbors have been complaining. She said she still has trouble telling people she has been homeless.

A friend told her about Beck’s Place, and on Friday she and her mother left the 4-year-old dog with Barbara Maitland.

Apollo will stay on her seven-acre Granite Falls property. The Siedlicki’s other dog — they have two dogs and two cats — will also be brought there soon.

“It makes me feel better about myself, and I enjoy it,” Maitland said.

Maitland previously fostered another dog through Beck’s Place. Her husband wasn’t the only one sad to see Marshmallow go. 

“All of the kids in the neighborhood thought he was the greatest thing ever,” she said.

Apollo will have plenty of space to roam, which is a consolation to Kara, who was in tears on the drive to meet Maitland. She said she will visit him on her days off from work.

The Siedlickis had been at the point where it looked like they would have to give their pet away. An experience they say would have been too heartbreaking.

“He is just the happiness in the family,” Kara Siedlicki said. “He always has a smile on his face.”

Ryan said Beck’s Place is always looking for foster families for her clients’ pets. She said donations also help pay for boarding and other services that keep owners with their animals, especially during times when the demand is so high.