By Your Side w/ Nathaniel Fields and Danielle Emery

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all the other podcast platforms. New episodes post on Tuesdays.

Getting By With Help From Some True PALS

Danielle Emery, Director of PALS, with her dog, Pork chop

Danielle Emery, Director of PALS, with her dog, Pork chop

About The Episode

This is a special episode of Dog Save The People, which includes two guests from the same organization. First up in the episode is Nathaniel Fields, the CEO of the Urban Resource Institute (URI). After is Danielle Emery, the Director of the People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) program from URI.

Domestic violence survivors for years had no way of finding a way to stay together with their dogs if they wanted to escape their abusive situation and find an official place to go to. Back in 2012 / 2013, not one domestic violence shelter in New York City would allow a victim to bring their pets with them when seeking safety.

That’s where URI and PALS come into the picture. URI is the largest domestic violence shelter in the country and provides crucial services to other vulnerable groups, too. With the PALS program, they opened the first pet-friendly domestic violence shelter in NYC. It wasn’t easy to set up, as it had been nonexistent for a while for a variety of logistical reasons, but they made it happen. Leading the way on this initiative was Nathaniel Fields, the CEO of URI, who has made a big impact on convincing the government to support this program. He’s done a lot of great work and PALS is certainly one of those proud achievements.

PALS was a really important development as it’s important to get rid of as many barriers as possible for domestic violence survivors, so they can find a way out of their situation in the least disruptive way possible and give them the adequate space to properly heal and move forward from there. Already, it has made a huge difference for so many survivors. For mothers, who often can have their children staying with them, it helps them retain their family with their dog and provide support. For those without kids, their dogs can sometimes serve as (their kids) and not having them before was painful, too.

Nathaniel Fields (center), CEO of Urban Resource Institute, pictured with NYC Therapy Pets

Nathaniel Fields (center), CEO of Urban Resource Institute, pictured with NYC Therapy Pets

Danielle Emery had been working at the ASPCA Adoption Center in the Admissions department, hearing from people who were asking or needing to surrender their pets for all sorts of reasons. She would also work with another department within the company that was focused on helping prevent issues of abuse or neglect in a community, too, and giving them the resources they needed for their pets. So when she found out about PALS, it felt like a perfect match.

While PALS started with one location in 2013, it now runs within seven of URI’s domestic violence shelter locations. PALS provides all of the dog’s food, enrichment toys, behavior support, veterinary support (if they need that). Most importantly, though, the dogs are there for emotional support.

Danielle and Nat have both seen how big an impact the dogs have on these survivors. They provide them with stability, comfort, routine, security, and so much more. URI and PALS also don’t want to just do this alone, they’re supporting other shelters in helping create similar programs. Hopefully that day can come sooner than later.

About The Organizations - Urban Resource Institute (URI) and People and Animals Living Safely (PALS)

Urban Resource Institute (URI) is a Manhattan-based nonprofit organization that offers services for communities in need, including survivors of domestic violence and other marginalized communities. For 40 years now, they have been impacting New York City across the five boroughs (and even into Westchester).

Since 2013, URI has provided refuge to abused women, men, children, and their pets. That year, URI launched their People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) program, the first of its kind and the first and only initiative in New York City to allow victims and their pets to live together. One of the greatest benefits of pet-friendly domestic violence shelters is keeping pets and their parents together during the recovery process.

About The Guests - Nathaniel Fields and Danielle Emery

Nathaniel Fields is the CEO of the Urban Resource Institute (URI), leading their organization since 2012. With his strong leadership, URI has now only made great innovations with the PALS program but it also has become the largest provider of domestic violence shelter services in the country. A New York native himself, he has firsthand insight into the struggles of the city’s most vulnerable communities, and how to best go about enacting change for them. With URI working directly with marginalized groups, it’s been proven that when investments are made in communities, it really makes a difference.

Danielle Emery has been the Director of the PALS program since March 2018. She previously worked at the ASPCA as Manager of Animal Admissions and Foster Programs in the years prior. In 2019, under her leadership, URI introduced PALS Place – an apartment-style domestic violence shelter designed to be a safe, secure place for domestic violence victims and their pets to heal together.

Featured Links

InterviewJack SommerService Dogs