Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

10/04/2026

This Saturday was our Lunch Meals Delivery Day and I have missed the folks we serve so much. We missed one due to too many of our team being sick so today was like a reunion tour.

We begin with our assembly team after our sandwich makers have delivered their offerings. You simply cannot take on and sustain something like our Meals Program (we began this program in 2020) without a solid team and we have one. Now we need more folks to help deliver so let us know if you might be that person. And if you have contacted us but received no response please forgive and text us (again) at the number or email addresses below.

And I have to give a shout out to our newest team members, Monica and Courtney! Calling them “new” just doesn’t really fit because they just walked in and owned their place!

But I’m going to be honest, we all have our Saturdays when we all would rather meet a friend for lunch. Work around the house. Or sleep late. That is just the truth. And then I hand that first person a lunch meal. Or an old friend like James shows up, back in town and with a hug. I watch our delivery team like Brena Stafford greet our folks and make them realize that they are truly loved. She is so amazing with everyone. And Kathy Halbrooks was back delivering with us today and there is no one better at making folks feel loved.

And how we love our folks. I know that conventional wisdom says you must have pictures. Sometimes a picture is okay and when it is I will share. But feeding, for me, is a sacred act and one that I really feel is not right to photograph. I know we need you and I know that without donations we cannot deliver any meals but you gotta know this truth. The people and animals we serve will always come first. To show them respect and dignity is everything to us and indeed, it is not an option.

Join us. This can sometimes be an emotional program to be a part of but it will change you for the better.

Laurie Green
Lori Eslick
Bettina Bowers
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
[email protected]
[email protected]

615-474-8390 (resource text line)

09/30/2026

When you open your heart up you will see these scenes every day. And they are hard to see. So often it hits me that all of us barely “scratch the surface” of what is needed to help folks regain their footing. Now knowing that does not excuse us from always doing what we can, when we can and for who we can.

I will not ever allow the scenes I see daily that I cannot solve keep me from doing what we can do. None of us are charged with fixing everything for everyone. But our mission and programs will continue to put boots on the ground every day.

Join us if you want to stop making excuses as to what you can’t do and instead focus on what you can do.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
[email protected]
safpaw.org
615-474-8390 (our resource line)

09/29/2026

This Saturday is your chance! Yes we are offering the first 5 folks who respond the chance to help us deliver lunch meals to folks we serve.

We leave out around 11am and we deliver until around 3pm.

So if feeding our neighbors who are hungry and lonely is something you think you could get behind, let us know.

Laurie Green
Lori Eslick
Bettina Bowers
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

[email protected]
[email protected]

09/27/2026

I had someone recently attempt to insult me by quoting an obscure passage from the Bible and using it in a most inappropriate and cruel way. No worries, that is on them. In the hands of some the Bible can be a weapon. In other hands it is a Holy book. As with all holy books I respect those who find the answers they are seeking inside. My Bible is not the only holy guide, just the one I follow. And SAFPAW is not an organization based on religion but rather the humanity we see in all we serve.

During 25 years of outreach to folks not housed and their animals I have witnessed so much that haunts me to this day and always will. The people I have served are no angels just as those I have met who are housed, and indeed financially well off are no angels. I have learned that one’s status in life is not the same as one’s ability to show compassion. But I have also met some true angels who walked this earth disguised as homeless. So many and they taught me all about this path I’ve been on. Some have challenged me because they did not make our relationship easy at all, but then what good am I if I only cared for the easy?

At the end of any day it is not perfection that I am seeking. It is to always get someone a step further in getting them, and sometimes an animal companion, off of these mean streets. But the resolution is never an easy one nor does it always look like how I wanted it to look. And that has taught me that it is not about me to begin with. If we are to be of any count as an Outreach Worker it will be when we discard self and focus on the one in front of us.

We will be judged by how we treat them, no matter what faith we follow.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

[email protected]

09/23/2026

Annie loves our screened in “catio” front porch. And she is under the impression that she guards our sanctuary of Misfit Cats! We’ve decided since she takes her job so seriously that we won’t tell her that we have cats tougher than she is.

And we love her so much. She just has the most innocent outlook on her world that makes every day an adventure.

A sanctuary where people and animals take care of each other has always been my vision. And we still have goals to reach before that vision is where I want it to be.

If you want to be a part of a new way of housing animals and people, if you think you could share my vision of what a sanctuary could be, get in touch with me please on our resource line below.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
Resource Text Line 615-474-8390

09/22/2026

09/19/2026

Davidson County for 9/19/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Remember that our public libraries are available for folks seeking relief from this horrible heat. So go sit in the quiet for the day and read.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/17/2026

Davidson County for 9/17/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Remember that our public libraries are available for folks seeking relief from this horrible heat. So go sit in the quiet for the day and read.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/16/2026

Davidson County for 9/16/26:

NASHVILLE: Extreme Heat! Metro will be offering rides from 12PM-7PM. Please call 615-844-3399.

Please do not leave your pet(s) behind. They too can die from heatstroke.

This is hardly an ideal way to save human and animal lives in this dangerous heat but I do hope it helps some.

Remember that our public libraries are available for folks seeking relief from this horrible heat. So go sit in the quiet for the day and read.

Laurie Green
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw

09/16/2026

If you would like to be a part of the most direct and hands on act of helping our neighbors deal with hunger and food insecurity please let me know. Every other Saturday we hit the streets and deliver lunch meals. These are packed lunch sacks with a full meal that is balanced.

We meet at a local East Nashville Church. I can have 1 person ride with me if need be, but the van will be so loaded so only 1!

This week we are good on assembly but we have no delivery volunteers. Now this is where you see just where your work, your belief in community and your commitment to your neighbors in need goes. Our assembly & delivery teams are where talk stops and true service happens.

PLEASE text our SAFPAW resource text line if you can deliver meals to our neighbors in need. I will let you know where to meet us. The time frame is between 11:00am and 3pm this coming Saturday.

615-474-8390 is our resource line.

We need to know by this coming Friday at noon. Delivery day is Saturday, 9/19.

Thank you!
Laurie Green, director
Lori Eslick, meals team coordinator
Southern Alliance for People & Animal Welfare - Safpaw
615-474-8390