🤍2023: A year of clarity and building strength and continued growth for the Euclid Beach Cat Project🤍
Although 2023 has been a year of restructuring and setting limits to make ends meet, the Euclid Beach Cat Project has grown in knowledge, clarity, and strength.
With your help, more than 230 cats came through our doors to receive medical care, rehab, socialization and a safe place to land. Of the 193 cats caught through humane trapping, only 9 were returned to the field, and 10 others needed to be relocated to barn homes. The rest of the trapped cats came through our adoption program because they were socialized strays or abandoned cats. Over 250 cats found their happily-ever-afters with wonderful loving families to call their own!
2023 was also a year of assessment, restructuring, and clarity. Post-Covid animal rescue has had its limitations due to the rise of inflation putting a strain on the average American and on what businesses can contribute. Nonetheless, we were determined to find the funds needed to continue our mission to provide trap-neuter-return (TNR), medical care, socialization and adoption services for the many cats and kittens in need.
🤍2023 Was Also a Year of Growth and Change🤍
This year we grew stronger in numbers! Many new families joined our adoption center location teams! These families are the bridge between the moment when the cat is rescued and when they find their forever home. We also gained many loving foster families, who offer our cats a safe place to land, where they can learn to trust again and heal both body and soul. Our volunteer teams not only help us continue our mission, but also make the world a little brighter.
Stephen King and Rio are enjoying a nice cozy
spot for a nap in their foster home.
Melinda Keserich is one of our dedicated team members. She has fostered, transported and helped at events. She has made a huge impact on so many lives! We are so grateful for her and the rest of our amazing team!
Euclid Beach Cat Project welcomed new members to the board of directors, adding a wide range of expertise to support its mission.
EBCP is committed to building a diverse board to help the organization grow stronger, to be more transparent to donors, and to be a reflection of its values to the communities in NE Ohio that it serves.
Our history: In 2006 a group of concerned citizens began a project to help the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park with an overpopulation of cats on their grounds. That quickly spread into the community of Collinwood, a neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. In 2013 they incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization named “Euclid Beach Feral Cat Project, Inc.” In 2015 EBFCP expanded into a small foster program and began helping cats in the surrounding areas with foster care, adoptions and Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). It focused on the friendly cats and kittens found at TNR sites. EBFCP’s foster program expanded and began helping cats and kittens throughout Greater Cleveland, including those with severe medical conditions. By 2017 EBFCP started doing business by the name "Euclid Beach Cat Project'' because more than 90% of free roaming cats were not "feral,” but abandoned and neglected. From a group of 6 citizens, to a team of over 100, EBCP's needs have continued to expand, and the organization has become a well-known and respected asset to the communities it serves. Because of its growth, a more diverse and larger board of directors was needed.
Volunteer Coordinator
Megan Bolin
2023-Present
Employment: John Carroll University
Ever since I was little, I have been proud to call myself a “cat lady.” I grew up with two amazing cats in my family, Bonnie and Tiger. During our first years of marriage, my husband Bobby and I welcomed into our home four amazing cats: Athena, Malcolm, Luna and Snickers. Sadly, in early 2023, our beloved Malcolm passed away unexpectedly, leaving us heartbroken. Shortly after his passing, Bobby and I visited a Pet Supplies Plus and learned about the Euclid Beach Cat Project. The next day, I spoke with one of the cat foster moms and she was amazing with helping us find who we were to welcome into our lives to help with our healing: Rosie and Fallon. (Artemis showed up at our door a few months after, but that’s a story for another time!)
I am excited to work with the Euclid Beach Cat Project because I believe every cat deserves the purrfect forever home. Through my years of working in the nonprofit sector, I have become passionate about helping people become involved and sharing their time toward causes that are important to them. I am looking forward to meeting others who are interested in volunteering with the EBCP and helping them become connected with how they can become involved.
Grant Coordinator
Jennifer Lou
2022-Present
Employment:Retired Pediatric Dentist
“What’s mommy’s favorite animal?” I’d ask my then two-year-old daughter. “CATS!” she’d scream in reply.
My house has been a cat house since birth. I’ve always been around cats and thoroughly enjoyed their company. I didn’t realize it when I was young, but growing up our cats were all rescues. I continued the tradition into adulthood adopting cats from a variety of situations, including injury, abandonment, animal hoarding, and feral colonies.
One evening after having dinner, my kids and I decided to drop in to a Pet Supplies Plus to buy some litter for our cats. We were greeted by friendly staff and sweet cats available for adoption. After socializing with the cats for a bit, we decided that as a family we would like to volunteer to help care for the cats in the store. I’ve found caring for the cats under the umbrella of EBCP to be a truly rewarding experience. Not only have I made many furry friends, but I’ve come to know and appreciate the dedication of the volunteers in the organization.
A sudden, unexpected medical condition forced me to retire from pediatric dentistry. I did a small amount of research grant work as an academic, so I am excited to help EBCP help even more animals by coordinating grant research and applications.
Finance Coordinator
Jackie Stroemple
2023- Present
Employment: Business Intelligence Manager @ Applied Maintenance Supplies & Solutions
On a random Friday evening I walked into Pet Supplies Plus Brooklyn with my daughter “just to see the cats”. I found my soulmate. He became a member of my family that Sunday. Three months later, I decided he needed a friend when I saw a post on the EBCP Facebook page of a lovely ginger girl that was waiting way too long for her forever home. When she joined our family from the Twinsburg Pet Supplies Plus, I knew then that I wanted to give back to this organization. I volunteered as a ring steward for a cat show in January 2023 and became a weekly volunteer for the PSP Brooklyn in February, where my journey with EBCP started. As the months went by I started building relationships with other volunteers and board members and realized I have more to contribute. With my background in Finance, Marketing and Data Management, joining the board as its Finance coordinator was a natural fit. I am so looking forward to helping this organization serve the community and finding our felines in need their forever homes.
Data Coordinator
Amber Tischler
2023-Present
Employment: Lease Administrator managing the Northeastern United States leased portfolio for Progressive Insurance for the past 18 years.
I am passionate about all things cat, graphic design, craft and technology. I live in Seven Hills with my better half and my 3 cats – Butters, Piper and Luna. I have an Etsy Shop, Adcat Designs, through which I sell cat toys, blankets and decals, etc… to raise money for non-profit animal rescues. I also serve on the board of Ohio Paws with Purpose, whose mission is to help the underserved community with pet food, veterinary care and more. I’ve followed Euclid Beach Cat Project for about 6 years now and have always been in awe of all that they do for cats in the community. I was SUPER excited to hear that they were looking for board members and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with EBCP as the data coordinator and to be part of this amazing team!
Events & Fundraising Coordinator
Brooke Moses
2023-Present
Employment:Great Lakes Veterinary Specialist-Warrensville Hts
When I first became involved in the rescue community in 2015 I had no idea how incredibly rewarding my experiences would be. It's a family passion in my home and everyone is involved, in one capacity or another, to help any animal we can to thrive. Myself, my husband and our 2 sons live in Mantua, OH with our many rescue animals. One of my passions is to promote rescue and humane education to the community through events and fundraising. In my free time I am an avid sewer and love designing and creating safe and functional accessories for pets.
In addition to the new members, EBCP board members also include: Vicky Sprouse (Director), Heather Hawk Frank (Secretary) Dina Torres (TNR Coordinator), Monica Occhetti (Treasurer) and Andrea Latessa ( Legal Advisor)
Euclid Beach Cat Project's love for cats motivates it to learn and grow and continue to make the biggest impact in the communities it serves.
Together we can change the world, one heartbeat at a time!
Seeking motivated individuals to join our Board of Directors
Candidates must be committed to our mission, ready to take on a leadership position and want to help direct a growing organization. We are seeking members who can actively engage and guide efforts to shape and strengthen our direction, vision, stability and community presence. The ideal candidates are people who can be effective in their roles, can create committees, delegate responsibility and carry out tasks in a timely manner.
e responsibility and carry out tasks in a timely manner.
We are currently filling these board positions:
Please click to see descriptions
🤍Come Visit Our Cats At Our Adoption Centers🤍
When cats first come through our doors they spend time in loving homes while they receive medical care and socialization. Once they are ready to find families of their own, many of them spend time in our adoption centers meeting potential adopters.
Make a difference in the life of a rescue. Euclid Beach Cat Project Adoption Application
🤍Special Care For Special Kitties🤍
Reign
Reign came through our doors at the beginning of 2023. He was on a porch in the middle of a rain storm trying to seek refuge in a home located in an east side suburb of Cleveland. It was so heartbreaking to see. We knew we needed to help him right away. He did not deserve the life of the streets.
Not long after we brought him in, we learned he was in need of medical attention. He had urinary cystitis. We were first told he would need a very expensive PU revision (a new urinary opening), but luckily that was not the case. It did seem like he may have had past scarring from previous trauma, or a congenital deformity, but in the end, it didn’t seem that he had any lasting issues that would prevent him from emptying his bladder.
The veterinary team also discovered hyperthyroid disease that had been left untreated for what we believe was for quite a while. Reign’s critical care specialist and his cardiologist think that could have contributed to heart disease. When he first came, he had burn out hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Now with control from medication, it seems as though he is no longer in burnout, but does need the aid of medicine to help his heart pump without taxing his heart and exacerbating his disease.
Reign will always need thyroid and heart meds, but with them he can live a long rest of his life! We have been so blessed to be able to provide Reign with this life saving care. We can’t wait to see him in a home to spend his golden years with a family to call his own.
call his own.
Dunkin Neuro Litter
Vanilla Ice, Cranberries & Cream
Euclid Beach Cat Project received a call from the city of Garfield Heights dispatch about a litter of kittens and three adults who were thrown in the dumpster at Dunkin Donuts and left for dead. We were blessed that on this day we had kittens adopted, so even though we are on an intake freeze, a foster family was able to open their doors for this dire situation. Unfortunately, the lieutenant said the adults ran away when they were trying to retrieve the kittens, but they did successfully collect the kittens. We jumped into action and headed to pick them up.
The litter of kittens were emaciated, dehydrated, and presented with signs of neurological impairment. Meet Vanilla Ice, and his sisters, Cranberries and Cream. After having them with us for just a few short days they made such progress. They went from being unable to stand up straight and extremely weak, to eating like champs, running and playing. Unfortunately, we also noticed they had continued neurological signs that left them with cerebellar hypoplasia symptoms (wobbly) and myokymia (facial twitches). They would wobble and fall when they ran and their ears, eyes and whiskers would twitch for long periods of time. Vanilla Ice also had part of his toe fall off (likely due to previous trauma). Luckily that healed nicely on its own.
We scheduled bloodwork, x-rays and snap tests, and neurologist appointments. After the appointments we learned that there was doubt it was cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), but multifocal CNS disease. The wobbly movements were from congenital patella (knee) deformities. We started with two blood tests: toxoplasmosis titers, and cryptococcus antigen testing. These tests came back negative. They are also suggesting an MRI of the brain, a spinal tap, and electromagnetic testing. We plan to raise money to get these diagnostics done on one of the three. Although they seem to have better mobility as they have grown, and their twitches are less frequent, these diagnostics are crucial to knowing what their prognosis is and what treatments look like going forward. The goal is to make sure we understand and treat any underlying cause that would make an impact on their quality of life. Once we know as much as we can about their conditions they can find happy, loving homes.
For now, they are living their best life in a loving foster home surrounded by human and animal companions, just being the kittens that they are.
🤍Together We Can - Partnerships🤍
Kris Ropp & Free Spirit Farm
Since the beginning of 2022 we have been helping cats being displaced from Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park due to the WRLC buyout and transfer to the Cleveland Metroparks.
Over 90% of the cats that come through our doors come from our TNR program. Most of those cats can be taken into our adoption program because they are strays, abandoned, or neglected cats. We TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) the others that are unsocialized. Most of these get returned to the location that we trap them. Some of these unsocialized cats, like the ones from the mobile home park, cannot safely return to where they were trapped. In these cases, we find barn placements for them.
Kris Ropp was kind enough to take some of our barn kitties not once, but twice. She owns Free Spirit Farm, an equestrian center. Kris Ropp, a uniquely qualified riding instructor, who blends her background in dance with an understanding of equine biomechanics, is also attuned with others and their needs. She loves to give back to her communities. She takes her ponies to underprivileged neighborhoods so that others can experience the love of riding that otherwise would not have that opportunity. She also wants to give back to organizations like EBCP and the cats that they help. The Collinwood project is very close to her heart, and she wanted to help some of the cats that could not be placed into loving homes as companion animals find a safe place to call home. We are ever so grateful for her. She has gone above and beyond to make two groups of cats feel welcome and loved. WKYC came along with us to bring the second group of cats to her stables, so you could see this side of rescue.
WKYC joins EBCP to relocate cats to Free Spirit Farm
Through Kris, we found a partnership with Valley College in Cleveland, Ohio.
Valley College Cleveland
Valley College opened in Cleveland, OH in 2019 and began their veterinary technician program at the end of 2020. Since opening, they have helped provide services for over 800 rescued animals in the Cleveland area.
At the beginning of this summer we began our partnership with them. We have received help with radiographs, testing, vaccines, bloodwork, sterilization and euthanasia. This has helped us tremendously. With their help, we have been able to provide diagnostic and wellness care for over 15 cats this year. Some of those cats attended class to help teach the students. We are very grateful for this new partnership.
Nuevo Modern Mexican and Tequila Bar
The owners of Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar, Aaron and Lisa Redmond, are no strangers to giving back to the community around them. We are honored that they believe in our mission. EBCP has paired up with them both at their business as well as offsite. They have helped us raise much-needed funds to continue our mission to change the lives of Northeastern Ohio community cats. Because of their generosity, we have been able to host our annual Meowsquerade Ball at their breathtaking Lakeside Event Space. Not only have they helped us utilize their space for the last two years, but they have also donated the tantalizing appetizers that our guests enjoyed during the event. They have also partnered with us and other nonprofits at other venues like Tower City Center to help raise funds and awareness. We encourage you to stop down and enjoy a meal at their establishment, host your event in their amazing space above the restaurant, or pop in to enjoy a cocktail on their patio. You will not be disappointed!
🤍We Need You More Than Ever🤍
We currently have about 160 cats in foster care and our adoption centers. Even with hundreds of adoptions this year, we face the daily heartbreak of turning away cats and kittens in need due to lack of space and funds. We hope to count on your continued support in 2024. Our need for supplies like food, litter and vaccines, along with funds to cover medical procedures, remains greater than ever.
🤍How Can You Help?🤍
Help us tell our story
Connect with us and like and share our social media posts. Raising our profile keeps us on people’s minds when they want to adopt or know someone who does. Find us on Facebook, TikTok,and Instagram.
Volunteer
Want to hang out with our cats? Volunteer to feed and socialize them at adoption locations, events, transporting, and as a foster while they await their forever homes. Want to help TNR, transport, or provide recovery space after surgeries? We’d love to add you to our TNR Division! Contact Us: Volunteer@ebcatproject.org
Donate
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer group, we rely on donations. Your financial support, of any amount, means the world to our cats. One hundred percent of every dollar is used for the cats in our care. Ask your employer if it has a matching gift program to maximize your contribution. PayPal Giving Fund Venmo
If you prefer to donate supplies, we have an Amazon wish list and a Chewy wish list of most-needed items to care for our cats.
Everyone deserves their happily ever after. Somewhere outside is a cat that desperately needs us. With your help, we can find it, love it, and give it the fairy tale ending it deserves.
Thank you for your support!