The director of a Dixon animal shelter teamed up with a local homeless shelter in 2026 to launch a new program aimed at keeping pets with their families.

Many individuals and families without housing don’t see staying at a shelter as an option because they’ll be forced to give up their pet. Dixon’s Granny Rose Animal Shelter at 613 River Lane and PADS Homeless Shelter aim to remove that barrier with their program, called The Stevie Project, which provides free, temporary care for pets while their families are living at the shelter, Granny Rose Director Shannon Eastman told Shaw Local.

In fall 2025, Eastman fostered a blind kitten named Stevie who ended up dying of a disease, and in her honor, “I wanted to do something that could create a positive impact in our community,” Eastman said.

About that same time, a man was coming through Dixon after fleeing a domestic violence situation in Wisconsin. He was heading home to Missouri with his two kids and their dog when their car broke down, Eastman said.

The family went to the PADS shelter in Dixon, but they couldn’t bring their dog, so they asked if Granny Rose could house them, “and we said ‘absolutely,’” Eastman said.

They were able to get a bus ticket back to Missouri, but their dog wasn’t allowed on the bus, so two Granny Rose staff members drove the dog all the way there on Thanksgiving Day, Eastman said.

That’s when Eastman said she realized “this is how we can make a positive impact.”

Through private donations, the organizations established the Stevie Fund with $1,000 to kick off the program.

As of April 24, five animals have successfully gone through and were reunited with their family. Granny Rose tries to keep two kennels open and is housing two animals now as part of the program.

Since many people end up in rental properties after leaving shelters, Granny Rose also helps to get pets “rental friendly” by providing sterilization surgeries, vaccinations and other preventive care at its low “true rescue cost” paid through the program’s fund.

Outside of that program, Granny Rose visits local elementary schools to talk about pet safety and responsible pet handling, offers boarding services and other programs geared toward the same goal of the Stevie Project – to keep pets in homes.

One of those is a pet food pantry that’s open every day and through which the shelter offers supplies for cats and dogs, with those items donated by local businesses or families. The shelter also offers a low-cost vaccine clinic every other week on Thursday.

Eastman said her favorite part of working at the shelter is “teaching stewardship of the animals to staff, to new owners, to volunteers, how we need to be their stewards.”

One way Eastman said that’s done is when a family goes home with a pet.

“I want to set them up for success,” Eastman said.

Eastman said an example is to teach soon-to-be pet parents about “the rule of three.”

When families bring a new cat or dog home, the first three days are typically a decompression period as the animal adjusts from shelter life. Over the next three weeks, they begin learning the household routine and their place in the home, gradually becoming more comfortable.

By three months, “they realize that they are home and you’ll see all of their personality in full bloom,” Eastman said.

Staff at the animal shelter also participate in a national program called “Fear Free,” which trains them to reduce stress in every interaction with animals.

At the shelter, “cats will shut down” for anywhere from a day to a week, and dogs can take even longer to get comfortable, Eastman said. “It’s all that overwhelming, overstimulating noise” and smells.

Eastman said the shelter is always looking for donations because it receives no state funding and runs solely on county, city and private funds.

As of April 24, it has 18 dogs and 24 cats available for adoption.

Eastman said they have about 12 volunteers a week.

On April 24, one of those was Jayden Bonnell, who said it was her first day volunteering at the shelter through a program sponsored by her employer, Sauk Valley Bank. She spent the afternoon walking dogs at the shelter.

“I love dogs. That’s why I decided to come here,” Bonnell said.

For information, call the shelter at 815-288-7387 or visit grannyroseanimalshelter.org.