Pulse - March 2022 - 12

Lori Weise'
Nonprofit Built
on Trusting
Relationships / Jim Bell
to everybody, whether they're paying you
$200 or nothing. You should always give
everyone the same options because you
never know whether they have someone
who will help them. You should prepare
them for the worst but also tell them the
positives. When you do this, a lot of people
feel gratitude because you're treating them
with kindness. "
" I like to put myself in somebody else's
shoes. If I were homeless or in a less advantageous
economic situation, how would I
feel if someone was talking down to me?
" You get very addicted to going to the
free clinics. That's why I'm usually going to
be there. "
long as we have continued interest from our
members. And that seems to exist. "
" The first Downtown Dog clinic
wasn't in a park, " Dr. Weinstein said. " It
was in the parking lot of the Watts Coffee
House, which is a legendary location in
Watts. " The restaurant is closely linked to
the area's cultural and political activism. It
was started after the 1965 Watts riots and
has long been a gathering place for artists
and community leaders. It is located in the
Watts Happening Cultural Center.
" It was really cool to be in Watts taking
part in that event, " Dr. Weinstein said.
" I had never stopped in the community
before and, as with many, there was probably
a little trepidation.
" But once we got started and once we
engaged with the pet owners, we found
that we're all the same: we all care about
animals. " P
Peter Weinstein
Dr. Weinstein has continued to attend all
the clinics since his retirement. " I plan to
attend every clinic that I can if I'm in town
and don't have a conflict.
" My message is that, not only are we
helping the community and people of
color with their pets, but we're also permitting
their kids to see what veterinary
medicine has to offer. I think it's important
that we use these opportunities to
encourage young pet owners to potentially
become veterinarians. We need to increase
the diversity in the profession. Look at this
not as giving back to the community of pet
owners but as potentially doing outreach
and education for the next generation of
veterinarians. "
Dr. Weinstein doesn't see any problems
for SCVMA participation in the Downtown
Dog clinics in the future. " Lori has
been able to get the support that's necessary
to have the product she needs to deliver.
She has plenty of volunteers. There is nothing
preventing us from keeping this going as
12
" If I were
homeless or in a
less advantageous
economic situation,
how would I feel
if someone was
talking down
to me? "
- Rochelle Aran
Lori Weise has been building
Downtown Dog Rescue steadily
for years, relying on mutual trust
- with the community she serves,
with SCVMA and other organizations,
with shelters, with people
from the community she has
given work.
" The future now is that we have a community
looking into animal sciences, animal
welfare or animal care, " Lori said. " We
now have a community that understands
there is a profession here and sometimes it
can be a very wealthy profession.
" We need bilingual vet techs and veterinarians.
That's part of the future. The other
part is to educate some of the younger vets
who want to open practices and tell them
not to overlook our community.
" There are organizations like mine,
more and more every day. I am sharing my
data and putting the word out. Last year
we served more than 7,000 people and we
take in half a million dollars a year.
" We do it by collaborating with organizations
like SCVMA. That's the future. But
how do we increase the number of services?
We need to get more people from
the community working. And instead of
driving to Santa Monica for a job, we need
to get them working here. "
Lori - who grew up in Temple City
and lives in Pasadena - seems to see herself
more as a citizen of South Los Angeles
than of the city where she lives. She sees
Downtown Dog Rescue as part of the
answer to the problems of the community
it serves.
The Downtown Dog president employs
several people from her adopted community
and hires others on a temporary basis.
She does not pay herself as the head of the
nonprofit organization. (She supports herself
as manager of Modernica, a successful
Vernon furniture company that she has
helped build into an international brand.
She has worked there 26 years.)
MARCH 2022
PULSE
Pulse - March 2022

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