Beck's Place holds second community action project

Monroe resident Melanie Ryan loves dogs. She also has a heart for the disenfranchised, the poor and the hungry. She founded Beck’s Place last year as a way to help those in need and honor the bond that exists between humans and their pets.

Ryan sought to do just that during her second official community action project, held near the entrance of the former Monroe Haggen on Saturday, March 12. Along with a team of Beck’s Place volunteers, Ryan set up an open-air market and spent several hours distributing items like hygiene products, household cleaning supplies and clothing. The outdoor living section featured tents, sleeping bags and tarps, while the pet section offered dog and cat food, cat litter, treats, toys, leashes, harnesses and bedding.

They had planned to open at 10 a.m., but opened earlier to meet the demand.

“It’s been phenomenal,” Ryan said. “We had to open a half an hour early because there were so many people here already. We estimate at this point we’ve helped probably close to 40 families today, and it’s only our second event.”

Ryan’s goal for the day was simple — she wanted to provide loving care to anybody that needed it. To enhance the experience for Beck’s Place clients, they supplied free refreshments, including hot food, donuts and coffee.

“We really try to make it a very community, happy event,” Ryan said. “We make it a donation day too, because we really want the community to mingle and to see each other and to humanize each other.”

Individuals in the community donated many of the distributed items, Ryan said, along with local organizations, including the Sky Valley Food Bank, Myownly Boarding Kennel and Sam’s Cats and Dogs, Naturally.

Ryan has four core objectives for Beck’s Place. She wants to keep families, including pets, together whenever feasible, simplify access to human services, reduce the number of animal surrenders at local shelters and improve the health and welfare of animals. Ryan hopes to meet those objectives by providing kind, holistic care to her homeless and low-income clients, which is what her community action projects are all about.

“What’s amazing about this is we have people who are our clients and families here, who have stayed to help,” Ryan said. “It’s awesome, it’s just really beautiful.”

She hopes to eventually secure an indoor facility where they can provide additional services, including haircuts and dog grooming.

In addition to providing families with items that food stamps don’t cover, Ryan has implemented a foster boarding program for low-income clients. The program is tailored to clients who are too scared of losing their pets to seek needed treatment for alcohol or drugs and victims of domestic violence who will not leave their abusive situations because shelters will not accept animals.

Through the foster boarding program, Ryan has been able to watch clients start transforming their lives once they had peace of mind that their four-legged family members were safe.

“It may not seem like this can change people’s lives but it can,” Ryan said.

Once a dog or cat is placed in the foster boarding program, Beck’s Place works to keep in regular contact with the families, Ryan said.

“It’s a powerful way for them to continue to be motivated,” Ryan said. 

Monroe resident Hoss Tehan can attest to the power of the connection between a human and their pet. Tehan volunteered during Saturday’s event with his dog, Sugar, and talked about how she helped him start his life over after years of violence, incarceration and substance abuse. Tehan is now more than four years clean, and regularly volunteers at Take the Next Step and Monroe’s Cold Weather Shelter.

Sugar is a special girl and he loves her very much, he said. 

“She’s just amazing. She can sense when people are having a bad day and she’ll go up and just put her head right on their leg,” Tehan said. “She is so awesome.”

Beck’s Place coordinates veterinary care for low-income pet owners through a partnership with Good Neighbor Vet out of Tractor Supply in Monroe. The next veterinary care clinic will be held 3-4 p.m. on Sunday, March 20. Clients must live between Snohomish and Index and be low-income to qualify for veterinary care.

For more information about Beck’s Place, visit www.becksplace.org or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/becksplace.