Oct 2, 2008 10:32 pm US/Mountain
Foreclosed Family Pays It 4Ward To Pets
Written by CBS4 special projects producer Libby Smith
The idea behind CBS4's Pay it Forward Colorado project is to give $1,000 to a Coloradan (or group of Coloradans) who will use the money to change someone else's life. Submit your ideas
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. Below lies CBS4's Oct. 2 report. BRIGHTON, Colo. (CBS4) - As the nation reels from the foreclosure crisis, families are struggling to relocate. Animal shelters are overflowing as some pet owners are faced with walking away from beloved four legged members of their families. It's a crisis that inspired one struggling family to action.
Bill and Sarah Patterson have 5 cute children ranging in age from teenager to 5-week old and just as much apart of the family are two adorable dogs, Bradley and Rufus.
"I love them because they're cute and cuddly," said 7-year-old Lilly Patterson.
When Bill was serving with the National Guard in Iraq, Sarah joked that he missed the dogs more than her.
When he returned, the Pattersons loved being back together as a family. Soon though tough economic times hit the Patterson family hard. Sare was laid off from her job as a social worker, and Bill's job was eliminated shortly after he came home.
"We've always taught when you work hard you have a place to be home," said Sarah.
Like so many houses on the market now, the Patterson's ended up in foreclosure. They were forced to leave the home where they had planted roses all around the garden, where the girls had decorated and painted their rooms themselves, where the whole families' dreams had flourished.
"The hardest thing to explain to them was giving up their rooms and that house that's the last thing we ever expect to do in our lives," Sarah told CBS4.
But then things got worse. The family could not longer afford their pets. All the local animal shelters were full, they couldn't find a place for Bradley and Rufus. It's a chronic problem for many families in financial crisis.
"As of last week, we've received 150 calls from people wanting to relinquish their animals," said a representative of the MaxFund, a no- kill shelter in Denver.
Rufus and Bradley finally found a temporary home with a neighbor.
Slowly the Pattersons are getting back on track. They're renting a small apartment in Brighton. Bill is working again and the children and the pets are once again happily reunited.
Now that they're getting their own finances in order, they want to pay it forward to the families and the pets in crisis. The Pattersons want to work with local animal shelters like the MaxFund to set up help for those families.
"Foster care pet families while families are going through transition," Sarah explained.
They're proposing a program called "Pawsitive Solutions" and they asked CBS4 for $1,000 to help start their dream. They want to take the pressure off local animal shelters -- a proposal that they welcome right now.
"It would be a tremendous help, like I say we're at capacity," said a MaxFund representatives.
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