Volunteer of the Month - June 2021
This month we’re celebrating Kim Thomas, a volunteer who spends countless hours of her time meeting with adopters and ensuring they feel confident and prepared to bring home their new family member.
Here’s Kim tells us she became involved in VOKRA and why the volunteers as a member of the adoption contracts team:
How did you start volunteering with VOKRA?
I first heard about VOKRA in 2013 when I fell in love with a little tuxedo cat my friends were fostering. I adopted her, named her Gracie May and we became the best of friends. Over the next few years, I followed more and more rescue groups online and even began donating to some of them. However, as I learned more about rescue work I wanted to do more for my local cat community, getting involved instead of merely being entertained by other rescues.
Around the same time my boyfriend asked me if I wanted another cat for my birthday - as if there is more than one answer to that question! The adoption process had changed significantly since my first time and I learned so much from Susan, a VOKRA volunteer, during our meeting. I knew then that adoption contracts was something I could get involved with.
How long and in what capacity have you been volunteering?
I began to volunteer as an adoption contract counsellor in 2016 and only recently began to train other contracts team volunteers.
Kim’s pretty sure she may have been born part cat
The work we do is equal parts prep, listening and education. As an instructor in my professional capacity, I love the educational approach that VOKRA takes with the adoptions process and feel we really set every adopter up for success. Typically, I spend about 15 minutes reading and prepping each file, communicate with the adopter regarding the appointment time and expectations, and then spend 45 minutes with them over the phone going over their adoption contract and answering any questions they may have.
I loved meeting in person with adopters in the pre-COVID era, however, our database and digital systems have made the virtual process so simple I find I now have more time and less challenges than ever before. (Ex. my house is so much quieter than the coffee shop I used to meet in and no one’s fighting me for seating!)
What’s your favourite part of volunteering?
My favourite part of volunteering has been meeting with adopters and ensuring they feel confident and prepared for their new family member! I see a growing number of people realizing adoption is a big commitment and approaching the process with the best intentions, but also have some concerns. I hear a lot of people worried they’ll do something wrong and their cat won’t be happy. I do my best to listen to each adopter, get a sense of who they are and what they need, then coach them through the next steps they’ll be taking. At VOKRA we base everything on cat science but also speak from our communal experiences. We have so much to offer in terms of knowledge and solutions.
Do you have a favourite kitty you have met or a favourite story from your time with VOKRA?
Kim’s cats Teddy and Gracie
My favourite experience from working with VOKRA has been the many, many times adopters tell me they loved the process. So many things in our daily lives are transactional but bringing home a new kitty should not be one of them. Knowing we help so many cats to find their people makes my day every time and reminds me that we’re changing lives - human and feline.
Hera’s what Audrey Jeary, adoption contracts team lead, has to say about Kim:
“Kim’s been a tireless adoption contract volunteer for many years. Besides doing adoption contracts, over the last year she’s also taken on the duties of training new team members and updating the training manual and documents used by the team. Kim’s kind and generous of her time, always ready to step up and help out and is very patient. She’s a great asset to VOKRA and the adoption contracts team and I'm grateful to have her to work with.”
THANK YOU Kim for all your hard work! The time and effort you spend speaking with adopters and making sure they’re comfortable with the process truly is appreciated.
As a volunteer-driven non-profit, we clearly couldn’t do what we do without our extremely dedicated and hardworking team of volunteers. Thank you to each and every one of you!
VOKRA’s always in need of volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering click here.