Photo by Johnathon Kelso
On a Sunday in October, members of the homeless community gather in the Big House Guitars parking lot at the corner of Cheshire Bridge and Lavista Roads. There, the Elizabeth Foundation, a nonprofit service organization, is laying out two spreads—one with food, the other with warm clothes for the coming cold, wet winter. Also there is the veterinarian Dr. Kristen Schmidt to help. Through the nonprofit Project Street Vet, Schmidt provides free veterinary care to the pets of individuals who do not live in Atlanta. She often partners with the Elizabeth Foundation to bring care to the same area, and is now busy.
Here’s Harley (who doesn’t share her legal name), rolling a wire dog crate with a blanket on top. Under the blanket, six pit bull puppies are climbing on each other. The puppies were born less than a month ago to a dog named Bella at a camp near Peachtree Creek. Just two days before Bella was born, her owner died of a drug overdose. Pet care has become a community effort for the camp, with Harley responsible for finding litter homes.
Photo by Johnathon Kelso
Schmidt takes the pit bulls one by one from their kennels to greet them and vaccinate them for rabies. Harley and Schmidt discuss where each dog will go. Right now, three are homeless. Another of the Elizabeth Foundation’s clients expressed interest in using one, and Harley asked her about her living situation to make sure it was a safe option. Harley herself is also planning to get one—a gray puppy with white spots on her face. “I’m really attached to him,” she said, as she cradled “Smoke G” in her arms. The puppy broke his leg early while playing with other larger dogs. Harley takes care of him while he recovers, but he still walks with a limp. “Someone goes by the name of Smoke G, but I like to call him Two Face for now, for his two colors.”
Many Sundays, Schmidt drives into the city from his home in Helen to care for the pets of the homeless. His visits to the Elizabeth Foundation and several metro camps regularly turned into 12-hour days. Along with giving vaccinations, Schmidt spays and neuters, gives out leashes and collars, and drops off 50-pound bags of dog food at many camps—all for free. Her care continues through the week, as she fields calls daily from homeless homeowners with questions or emergencies. Schmidt gives her phone number to every owner she meets so they can call anything, she said, and in case of an emergency, she can order an Uber Pet to the nearest animal hospital. (Their sponsor, Fetch, covers the cost of veterinary treatment.)
“I can save the dog’s life [my] clinic with emergency surgery, but those owners are sometimes not nearly as important as my pet owners down the street for something basic, like deworming,” Schmidt said. “Those homeless are always with their pets, so they care a lot. Often, their pets eat before they eat.”
Photo by Johnathon Kelso
Schmidt had always been interested in veterinary work, but decided to pursue it as a career after noticing homeless individuals with pets while visiting New York City. In high school, he began handing out dog food on the streets of his native Philadelphia. After graduating in 2021 from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Schmidt moved to Helen to begin her career at Cornerstone Animal Hospital. He also found California-based Project Street Vet. In the summer of 2022, the nonprofit approved Schmidt’s proposal for pet care in Atlanta, and he started the organization’s first branch outside of its home state.
The City of Atlanta’s 2023 Point-in-Time survey estimates the local nonresidential population at 2,679 individuals. That number represents a 32 percent increase from 2022, with higher numbers of homeless families and youth and chronic homelessness cases. Pets of the Homeless—a national organization dedicated to providing veterinary care to the homeless—estimates that between 5 and 25 percent of the homeless have pets.
“Kristen has been a huge help to everyone,” said Tracy Thompson, founder of the Elizabeth Foundation. After getting off the streets in 2015, Thompson started her organization to help clothe the homeless, help them get new IDs, and find transitional housing. “For [the unhoused]there’s a common bond of suffering and a common interest in living, so that’s what we try to help them do every Sunday when we meet,” said Thompson.
The Elizabeth Foundation’s outreach draws dozens of individuals from camps in Atlanta. This Sunday in October, Schmidt is caring for 10 total dogs and puppies on the Big House Guitars lot, with more work to do at camps around the metro.
Photo by Johnathon Kelso
Photo by Johnathon Kelso
Schmidt examined Bella, the piglet’s mother, and another pit bull, Blue, named for his blue-gray coat. Blue’s owner, CeCe (which is not the same as her legal name), looks on as Schmidt does her routine exam. “Blue is like my daughter, and it’s fun to be consistent with her,” says CeCe. After her exam, Blue runs over and sits in front of CeCe, until she offers him a baked potato from her plate. “She smiles, she cries, she pouts. Blue just smiled at me the other day, and it made me smile.”
The dogs also act as security for both CeCe and Harley. “We are always with them, so they are very protective of us,” said Harley. “We shouldn’t worry too much because they’ll let us know if anyone comes.”
For the past few weeks, CeCe has been helping Harley with the litter, taking care of half the puppies at camp. They asked Schmidt about options for bathing the dogs that were cleaner than Peachtree Creek, near the camp. Schmidt decided to bring a kiddie pool on the next visit, as well as dog shampoo for bathing.
Soon, most of the responsibility of caring for the pet at their camp will fall to CeCe, now that Harley has been approved for rapid housing through the City’s Continuum of Care—Partners for HOME program. Harley listed Schmidt and Thompson as references, and both spoke to her character and dedication as a pet owner. Harley will be allowed a dog to live with her in fast housing as emotional support. She still hasn’t decided between a puppy, like Two Faces, and one of her current dogs, like Lego, who Harley took in after her home burned down in an abandoned building. But when he moves into the apartment, Schmidt will give him a crate and food; Thompson will help with the furniture.
This article appears in our January 2024 issue.
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