Community Partners

In 2022, in an effort to address the veterinary shortage in Arizona, AAWL partnered with the McS (Mary Carol Sheets) Charitable Foundation to launch a mentoring program for licensed bilingual foreign veterinarians to help them obtain their U.S. and Arizona veterinary licenses. Once fully licensed, these veterinarians will help us better serve Spanish-speaking pet owners in East Maryvale. This fellowship program, combined with offering low-cost mobile vet services and community pet care education, will improve health outcomes for pets and keep them with the families that love them deeply. McS has also significantly invested in our adoption support program to help keep pets from returning to the shelter after adoption.

The Smith Tieken Foundation has made investments in transformative capital projects—ranging from launching our first mobile clinic to driving major campus improvements. These investments have strengthened our lifesaving efforts while expanding our reach to support more pets, both in our care and in the care of their families.

Over the past several years, we have evolved into a community-centered organization that is focused on not only supporting pets, but the families who love them deeply. We have invested in creating affordable and accessible community resources to support pet families in underserved communities, like East Maryvale. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has provided us transformative funding to expand our community veterinary services to help us reach even more pet families.

In 2022, AAWL partnered with PetSmart Charities to conduct the first-ever bi-lingual needs assessment of over 600 pet families living near AAWL. Since then, PetSmart Charities has provided significant funding towards our access to vet care program to help pets stay where they belong—with their families.

For the last decade, Facings of America has hosted their one-of-a-kind event, Design for Dogs, and have raised over $360,000 for our programs. We are incredibly thankful for their dedication towards our organization and the time and effort they put into this incredible bi-annual event.

What began as a friendly neighbor connection, has grown into a meaningful partnership. For the last six years, we have collaborated with Turnout Beverage to create a custom beer can (the Alewagger), to showcase our generous donors’ pets among AAWL alumni. This unique partnership has brought in over $60,000 for our lifesaving programs.