Total Grant Funding: $92,375 since 2018

In May 2018, Maddie’s Fund^® gave Better Together Animal Alliance (formerly Panhandle Animal Shelter) a $50,000 Maddie’s Idea Lab Research Grant to expand the usage of their Home to Home web-based program to help organizations provide positive alternatives to shelter surrender. The program was implemented at 40 shelters across the United States. The percentage of animals surrendered to the shelters, after they were posted on Home to Home, steadily declined over three years, with an average rate of reduction of 26% for owner surrender, and 100% of respondents from participating organizations stated Home to Home helped them be more engaged with their community.

In September 2020, an additional $30,000 was approved to support the implementation of Home to Home at additional shelters, with Human Animal Support Services (HASS) shelters being a priority. Currently 66 shelters in 23 states are part of the program. Since the program’s creation in 2016, they have collectively helped 7,664 pets find new homes without entering the shelter.

Better Together Animal Alliance also received a 2022 Return to Home Challenge grant for their use of technology to help reunite pets and owners.