Ava Powers works three jobs, volunteers for a pet rescue and cares for foster dogs in her Huntley townhome.

Powers said people think they need a freed-up schedule and large home with lots of space to foster dogs and cats, but the 19-year-old yoga instructor said that is just not true.

“If you go into these rescues [the dogs] are just in a tiny little crate that they can’t do a full circle in, so like, any amount of space, honestly, is better,” Powers said.

She currently fosters Chili, a 1-year-old beagle-pit mix, rescued in October. Chili was scheduled to be euthanized at an Arkansas animal control facility, said Stacy Pyrek, founder of Project Hope Animal Rescue in Kane County, where Powers volunteers and who rescued Chili.

“Chili is an energetic, friendly beagle who wants to be around everyone and everything. ... He alway has a smile, even when he’s trying to get out of the cage,” Powers said.

Powers previously fostered Ellie, a pit bull mix also rescued by Project Hope. She kept Ellie in her townhome from August until the dog was adopted in September.

Dogs and cats who are fostered in homes benefit from the peace and quiet, away from barking and other stressed-out animals, those who rescue and foster pets say.

Powers said at the rescue, Ellie was surrounded by loud, barking dogs and was “curled up in a ball.” She looked sad, stressed and scared. She would not come out of her crate and she would often bark as well.

Powers said she saw a “big difference” in Ellie’s behavior when she took the dog to her townhome. Ellie, like Chili and other dogs Powers has cared for, benefit from being trained, learning house rules and manners, getting exercise and developing their own personalities.

Those who foster and rescue animals say they’ve seen dogs who had only lived in shelters prior to adoption be returned due to behavior issues.

Within days at Powers’ home, Ellie stopped barking incessantly, became more confident, explored and ate her food. She went outside to play and took long walks and runs with Powers. She seemed more relaxed, loving and affectionate. And although Powers sensed Ellie initially feared men, she said Ellie had started to climb up on her dad to snuggle.

Another bonus to fostering is that when a dog goes to a foster home, an opening is created for another at the shelter. Like Powers told her dad, who initially was hesitant about fostering, “You’re just giving another dog a chance at surviving.”

Those in the field of rescuing pets said there is a great need for more foster homes. That need can grow even more after the holidays, when rescues sometimes see an uptick of dogs and cats that had been given as gifts bit didn’t work out.

Pyrek, a Gilberts resident who once owned a pet shop in Algonquin, has been rescuing dogs and cats since 2013. She founded Project Hope, a 501(c)(3) charity, in 2019. She said there’s a push among rescues to attract more people to foster dogs and cats.

“We have saved thousands of animals over the past five years from unsafe situations,” Pyrek said. “We are currently working toward increasing the amount of foster homes in the area through a nationwide program called Foster 50.”

Foster 50 is a national challenge launched in June in honor of National Foster a Pet Month, sponsored by the PEDIGREE Foundation. With a coalition of animal welfare leaders, it’s a “catalyst for change, rallying pet lovers, shelters, and rescue organizations to spark a fostering movement and help change the future for shelter pets,” according to the foundation.

“With an estimated 5.8 million cats and dogs entering shelters and rescues, foster parents are needed now more than ever,” Adopt A Pet says on its website.

In two spaces – Pyrek’s specially equipped garage, which is heated and air-conditioned, and a former animal clinic across the street – she cares for dogs, puppies, cats and kittens. The animals arrive from various places with different stories.

She gets calls for help through a large network of rescues locally and across the country. Some are seeking shelter for dogs found abandoned along roadsides or rescued from overcrowded kill shelters. One mom and her puppies were found underneath an abandoned house, she said.

“Our mission is we try to remove dogs out of bad situations,” Pyrek said. She works with her boyfriend, who drives twice each month to various states, often in the South, to pick up more rescued animals. She does the work, she said, because “it saves lives.”

Her motto is “Make a change, save a life.”

Ideally, Pyrek said, there would be a foster home for each animal rescued.

To raise funds and give the animals exposure, Pyrek hosts events like puppy yoga in Barrington and cat yoga at the Hampshire Park District.

Holly Bakey, also of Huntley, became a volunteer adoption team coordinator for Operation Hope after fostering two dogs. A hound mix she fostered came to her as a 9-week-old puppy and was adopted when he was 5 months old. She also fostered Lucy, a husky mix who came to Bakey at age 2 after delivering a litter of puppies.

Bakey echoed the importance of fostering pets as a step toward adoption. Dogs not fostered can be more difficult to adopt because people aren’t sure what type of dog they are getting, Bakey said.

“When you see the dogs are kept in kennels and crates 22 hours a day, you feel very good about bringing them home and letting them live in a house and teaching them. … They are then much more adoptable,” Bakey said.

Denise Samuel of Campton Hills is a full-time personal trainer, volunteer foster mom and public relations and marketing coordinator for As Good as Gold Golden Retriever Rescue of Illinois. The 50(c)(3) rescues golden retrievers and golden retriever mixes. The group has foster homes throughout the state including Kane and McHenry counties.

Good as Gold has an added challenge. Unlike Project Hope, Good as Gold has no facility to take in animals. When calls come in for a rescue, they rely solely on foster homes, Samuel said.

She’s been fostering and helping rescue dogs for about 20 years. She agrees there is a big decline in the number of foster parents. She’s noticed in particular a lack of “empty nesters” who would typically sign up to foster.

Samuel suspects part of the reason could be COVID-19 related. People could not travel during the pandemic and since everything has opened back up, people are likely traveling more, and doing the things they could not do then.

“They are afraid fostering will tie them down,” Samuel said.

Other reasons could be cost or that families just tend to have more family dogs of their own these days. They may not have the room, time or money for a foster dog, Samuel said.

However, most rescues help cover some expenses, such as vaccinations, spay and neutering and food, rescuers said.

Should someone not be ready to take on the commitment of a long-term foster, rescuers suggest visiting a shelter and taking a dog for a daylong field trip or weekend-long furlough. This gets the dog out of the chaos of a shelter for a while and out into the community where they can learn to socialize, have their photos taken for social media posts and be seen by potential adopters, they say.

“Getting an animal out of their shelter for any amount of time is a huge benefit to the animal,” Pyrek said.

But what about the potential heartbreak when the time comes to give the pet over to its forever family?

Rescuers and fosterers admit tears have flowed when that time came. But they were happy knowing they cared for that animal – some have to be nursed back to health from injury, ailment or trauma – and gave them a chance, showed them love and helped them onto their next home.

Powers said she “was a mess” when her first foster was adopted.

“It makes me really sad, but very happy they are in a loving home,” Powers said. She added that the dog’s departure from her home then gives her a chance to foster another.

Samuel fostered Nutmeg, a 6-year-old golden retriever, who was adopted to her forever family on Christmas. She came to Samuel in May from a breeder in Indiana, sick with heart worm disease.

“It is always bittersweet when your foster gets adopted,” Samuel said. “But you realize you never would have had that wonderful dog in your life unless you gave up the last foster.”

She looks forward to Nutmeg’s new family sending photos and updates on her new life as others have done.

“Once you get into [fostering], it’s almost addictive,” Samuel said. “You see how you can help these dogs advance, when you see them change from just the love you are giving them. You are reviving them. They make your heart grow bigger and you are ready for the next one because your heart grew bigger.”

Bakey who currently does not have a foster said she gets “very emotionally attached” to her fosters. When it is time to give up the dogs for adoption “it is hard.”

“It’s like a breakup,” Bakey said, “but it is very rewarding.”