Meet Tom heller | Board Member

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tom heller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tom, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We started ThisIsHouston non profit dog rescue because we wanted to make a difference for the neglected, abused, and abandoned dogs in and around Houston.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We believe what sets us apart from others is that we focus on the dogs that nobody else is able to. We take in severely injured/abused/neglected dogs. Most of the time they require a lot of time, effort, and money. We have accumulated a large following because we engage our followers, and keep them informed all along the way of the dog’s journey, from being rescued off the street, to being adopted and even update on them after adoption. People love to see that and have rewarded us by donating and volunteering to help us. We take pride in taking care of not only the animals, but the people involved as well. In the beginning, we had to pay for things out of our own personal funds and hope we get it back through donations. We followed our formula of always being transparent, always keeping everyone updated, and documenting publicly everything going on with the animals in our care. It’s not easy, and requires diligence even when we don’t feel like it. We feel we are obligated to keep everyone informed and making sure everyone is part of the process. People have a connection with our animals, as we do, and it’s a total team effort. We are partnered with thousands of people who we don’t even know. It’s a beautiful thing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
we are so involved with animal rescue that we don’t get a lot of time to go out and have fun. When we do, it’s usually with other rescuers and will probably involve dogs and/or rescue. We would probably take them out on the streets to see what we deal with on a daily basis. I know it’s not much fun but that is our lives.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We cannot do what we do without all the fosters, adopters, volunteers, and donors. They are the ones who make all of this happen.

Website: www.this-is-houston.org

Instagram: this_is_houston

Twitter: @ThisIsHoustsonTX

Facebook: facebook.com/thisishoustontexas

Image Credits
Angie Guerra – ARGPhotography