LONGMONT, Colo. — For many people experiencing homelessness, their pets are more than companions, they’re family. But traditional shelters for the unhoused often require individuals to leave their animals behind, forcing them to make an impossible choice between a safe place to sleep or staying with their beloved pets.
Kristen Baltrum, the founder of Annie and Millie’s Place, is working to change that. She envisions a co-shelter space where people and their pets can stay together safely, but for now, that place does not yet exist.
“Our big dream is to have a co-shelter space where people and their pets could sleep safely and securely together every night of the year,” Baltrum said.
Until that vision becomes a reality, Baltrum and her nonprofit are providing crucial support in other ways. Annie and Millie’s Place offers pop-up veterinary clinics, emergency pet care funding and foster arrangements for animals while their owners seek treatment or temporary shelter.
Baltrum’s mission is deeply personal. Her sister, Annie, became unhoused in 2019. When she sought refuge at a homeless shelter, she was told she could stay but her dog, Millie, could not. Rather than abandon her companion, Annie chose to stay with Millie. For seven months, the two lived on the streets, struggling to find resources that would accommodate them both. Eventually, Annie moved into an abandoned house. She died by suicide a few weeks later.
“I believe that had Annie and Millie just been welcomed into that shelter together, she would be alive today,” Baltrum said.
Her sister’s story inspired Baltrum to start Annie and Millie’s Place in hopes of preventing others from facing the same tragic outcome.
“Often, this is a person’s only friend or only companion that’s keeping them alive,” Sarah Leonard, a volunteer and CEO of Visit Longmont, said.
While Annie and Millie’s Place does not yet have a permanent shelter, Baltrum and her team are partnering with local organizations to provide interim support. The future space of Longmont’s Recovery Café was staged to showcase what the future co-shelter could look like.
Baltrum is hopeful that with community support, her dream of a pet-friendly shelter will soon become a reality.
“This is an issue that’s not just about human services,” Baltrum said. “It’s about animal welfare as well.”
For those looking to support the cause, donations and volunteer opportunities are available at the Annie and Millie’s Place website.
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