Mentoring is important for animal welfare organizations

Whether you work for a nonprofit, a for-profit agency or the government, there are a lot of terms used to describe the people that you learn from. People are mentors, job coaches or colleagues, and job shadowing and even job swapping are utilized to further our development as leaders.

For me and my team at the SPCA, the training, shadowing, mentoring, etc. is a little different than you might expect. Sometimes we are the mentor and other times, the mentee. One of the most important parts of preparing to move into the new facility later this summer has been to talk to and visit with people who have already done this.

Recently, some SPCA staff members went to visit Pet Helpers in Charleston, a wonderful facility that opened in 2008. The architect who designed the Aiken shelter also designed this one and though I've visited about 10 times already, it was a great chance for staff members to see it in person. They were also able to speak to people who experienced moving from a smaller shelter to a larger one that provided more programs.

We also traveled to the Humane Society of Charlotte, in North Carolina, and met with counterparts there who offered a variety of ideas to help us. Both shelters have Humane Alliance regional spay and neuter clinics, as we will. Meeting the staff and seeing the work that went into spaying and neutering so many animals was eye opening.

Since we broke ground on the new facility, staff members or I have also visited the Spartanburg Humane Society, the Asheville Humane Society and the Charleston Animal Society, all of which are newer and larger organizations than the current Aiken SPCA. These tours and discussions with our counterparts paid off in the planning stages over and over again.

All of these visits, combined with speaking with others in similar situations around the country, have proven helpful as we move forward to the summer opening. It is beneficial learning what things to try, as well as learning what didn't work for these groups. That information allowed us to make adjustments to the shelter plans in time to not have to go through some things that other organizations wished they never had.

Learning from bigger organizations has been wonderful, but just as rewarding has been the mentoring we've had the chance to do for smaller organizations, and even larger groups when they wanted to try something new. The Aiken SPCA is about to open its third thrift store on March 1. I've spoken to people in Charleston, several communities in Florida and even Green Bay, Wis., about how to determine if a store will work for them, choosing a site, opening a store and how to operate one effectively.

We also get the chance to work with smaller government agencies that are either looking to start an animal control department and build a shelter for the first time or are looking to improve their existing department and shelter. My staff and I have had the honor of traveling to Barnwell, Edgefield, Saluda, Allendale, Greenwood and Laurens counties to discuss ways to work together and for them to improve in areas they felt they needed to.

I have also given advice to small organizations in a few counties in Georgia. All of these communities, whether they are urban or rural, densely populated coastal communities, or small places with more cows than people, are working hard to improve how they deal with domestic animals.

Many already invest in low-cost spay and neuter programs, education and have wonderful places to adopt animals needing new homes. And just as important, the people that work for these organizations have others they can call or visit whenever they need help, advice or suggestions on how to help even more animals most effectively. To share your skills to help animals, call the Aiken SPCA at 648-6863.