Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Hellmann.
Jessica, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started volunteering with dogs 11 years ago and I absolutely fell in love. Over the years, I started doing more and more. I held most positions with the rescue I was with. I felt I had plateaued, and I wanted more. I wanted to do some things differently than the way they were being handled. I decided to start my own animal rescue after that. In 2017, I started the process. Countless hours of paperwork and research, endless sleepless nights, and many tears of frustration. It took about 2 years for all our I’s to be dotted and our Ts crossed. We rescued our first dog in September of 2019.
All Paws Safe Haven is a small foster-based organization that helps take in those dogs that need us most. We take in dogs from the euthanasia lists from animal controls, transfers from other rescues strays off the streets of Arkansas, and we even help to rehome dogs that are in need of another family. We take in dogs knowing they come with large vet bills, behavior issues, etc. because the alternative is usually euthanasia.
Currently, I run this little organization by myself. I have the help of volunteers, fosters, etc., when it comes to the care of the dogs, but the day-to-day stress of placement, paperwork, etc., is all handled by me. We are 100% volunteer-based, meaning, I do not even pay myself. I never felt it was right to take donations that people intend to help the dogs and use that to pay myself. So, I wanted to take All Paws even further. I wanted to do something different. I needed a way to make money rescuing dogs, but not take the donations away from the dogs. I needed a win-win situation. So, I created one.
Ciao Chow is a brick-and-mortar pet supply shop located over on The Hill. I started Ciao Chow in February of 2021 and we first opened our doors in July of 2021. Ciao Chow is a for-profit business that pays me to work on All Paws Safe Haven. A percentage of the profits from the store get donated back to All Paws. Ciao Chow also displays our rescue dogs on the walls, and features our current adoptable dogs at events we host at the store. This became a win-win situation because I get to work with families every day and help them and their pet find the best product for them, as well as advertising for All Paws. I can now get paid every day to play with dogs, but 100% of the donations continue to go back directly to the dogs we save like they should.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Absolutely not. Every day brings another wave of adversity. Running a non-profit and a business simultaneously is constantly like taking two steps forward and three steps back. Both businesses are considered new. The rescue is under 5 years old, and the store is under 6 months old. There are so many challenges for both adventures. Struggling to find foster homes, struggling for funds, struggling to find my own sanity some days. I get no days off. Both of my adventures are 24/7. I even dream them! It is very hard.
But each day I wake up and I see the good. I see the dogs I have saved living their best life. A dog who was left for dead at animal control with multiple medical issues, now splashing in the ocean on their families annual Florida trip. Or, a desperate dog mom who cannot get her dog to eat no matter what she tries, coming in and telling me about how my suggestions work, and the dog now looks forward to mealtime. These stories fuel me. These stories outweigh the bad every damn day. They make the bumps in the road worthwhile.
As you know, we’re big fans of All Paws Safe Haven/Ciao Chow. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
ll Paws Safe Haven All Paws take in those dogs that really need it the most. Most rescues focus on the “easy” dogs who can be adopted easily. This is wonderful and we love those rescues, but there are other dogs that need a little bit more work that also deserve and equal chance at life. These dogs are usually the feral dogs who have lived their life on the streets, or the “Code Red” dogs in animal control who have a bite record because they have never received any sort of training, or the dogs who need medical care and are going to cost the rescue a fortune. These are the dogs we focus on. The 8 puppies who were sitting in an animal control for two weeks, but no other rescue wanted them because they had been exposed to parvo. Those 8 puppies would have never survived in that building. 25k later, and we now have 7 survivors living in their forever homes, thriving. Worth. Every. Penny.
Ciao Chow
We are a local pet store located over on The Hill. The thing that makes us different is our affiliation with our rescue and our ties to the neighborhood. Being born and raised in the neighborhood, I have a big love for the people and their pets. We anything from dog/cat food, collars, toys, treats, etc. We have a fun bakery section where we have homemade dog treats that we make in-store. When people come into Ciao Chow, they get a different experience than they would at a typical pet retailer. They get personalized communication. People come in and ask questions about their pet and get honest answers. I am not trying to upsell, rather, finding you the actual best product that will work for their pet. We love meeting the people and their pets who come in. We take the time to learn their names. We care. That is what makes us different, and that is a difference we are proud of. Come on in and check behind the counter, because we will probably have an adoptable pet from All Paws back there excited to say Hi!
How do you think about happiness?
Honestly, now, going to work makes me happy. I get to interact with fellow animal lovers. I get to help people and their pets. I get to connect people to a new dog. Watching the joy of a shelter dog sleeping on a soft bed, watching the eyes of a little girl light up as she picks up her new puppy, watching the face of a dog pick out their new toy. My life is chaos running two business. But those two merge so well, and that is what makes me happy. That every day is a new adventure, and that that adventure ends in happy dogs.
Contact Info:
- Email: jessica@allpawssafehaven.com or info@ciaochowstl.com
- Website: www.allpawssafehaven.com or www.ciaochowstl.com
- Instagram: @apshstl or @ciaochowstl
- Facebook: Facebook.com/allpawssafehaven or Facebook.com/ciaochowstl
