Art Exhibition and Social Work Continuing Education Event
Homelessness and Animal Companionship in Toledo and Nationally
Held in partnership between University of Toledo’s (UT) Social Work Program and My Dog is My Home
Exhibit open for viewing from 5:00PM - 8:00PM
Continuing Education presentation from 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Presentation attendees are eligible to receive 2 social work CEUs.
Cherry Street Mission Ministries' Life Revitalization Center
1501 Monroe Street
2nd floor library
Toledo, OH 43604
Exhibit Overview:
My Dog is My Home, a national organization dedicated to increasing shelter and housing access for homeless people with companion animals, is bringing a pop-up version of its landmark art exhibition to Toledo, OH this September. Featuring photographs, paintings, and historical prints, the show illuminates the life-saving and often misunderstood bond between homeless people and their pets. The organization’s founder and director, Christine Kim, curated the show for the Los Angeles based Animal Museum in 2013. My Dog is My Home continues to use the exhibit as a tool to start discussions with communities across the country about creating resources for homeless pet owners.
The exhibition will be on view at Cherry Street Mission Ministries' Life Revitalization Center’s library hall on Monday, October 2, from 5:00PM - 8:00PM. A special social work continuing education presentation on the topic of homelessness and animal companionship in Toledo and nationally will be taking place in the inside the library from 6:00PM - 8:00PM. Both components of the evening are free and open to the public, with the exception of a processing fee for attendees interested in obtaining social work CEUs. The exhibition will remain open and on view while the presentation is taking place.
Presentation Overview:
On February 18, 2017, My Dog is My Home (MDIMH), the University of Toledo's (UT) Social Work Program, Humane Ohio, Toledo’s PET Bull Project, and Toledo Area Humane Society partnered to bring free services to companion animals of the homeless. While the event was designed to deliver services that directly benefitted animals, one of the service fair objectives was to document the unique human needs and circumstances that present themselves in human-animal homelessness. As previous research shows, when faced with a "no pets allowed" rule in shelter and housing, people experiencing homelessness will often forego these services to care for their furry family members.
But the narrative of Toledo's population has yet to be told. With the location-specific data that researchers from My Dog is My Home and the UT Social Work Program collected from the service fair, we can begin to paint a more nuanced picture of the state of homelessness and animal companionship in Toledo, including what local providers can do to bridge the gap in services. The UT Social Work Program and My Dog is My Home will be presenting the findings at at a social work continuing education (CE) event which will be held at Cherry Street Mission Ministries’ Life Revitalization Center in downtown Toledo. The event will be composed of two parts -- (1) an art exhibition and (2) a formal CE presentation. Attendees are eligible to receive 2 social work CEUs from the event.
All parts of the event will be open and free to the public; however, only the presentation will count as a CE activity. For attendees who wish to obtain social work CEUs, My Dog is My Home will be charging a processing fee and requires pre-registration. For registration information, please visit the Eventbrite page linked below.
CEU Registration: Click here
Contact Information:
For CEU related inquiries
University of Toledo College of Health and Human Services
Social Work Program in the School of Social Justice
419-383-4000
utmc.webmaster@utoledo.edu
For all other inquiries
My Dog is My Home
917-765-6843