East Nashville resident Laurie Green nominated for humanitarian honor reflecting work with unhoused people and pets

A local nomination tied to street-level outreach

An East Nashville resident has been nominated for a humanitarian honor after years of community work that combines assistance for unhoused residents with animal welfare services. Laurie Green, who leads the nonprofit SAFPAW (Southern Alliance for People and Animal Welfare), is being recognized for efforts that include helping connect people outdoors to cold-weather shelter options and providing basic support such as food distribution and transportation.

The nomination comes as Nashville’s service network continues to confront overlapping challenges: housing instability, limited access to health services, and the practical barriers that pets can create for people seeking temporary shelter. In street outreach, pets are often central to safety and companionship, but can also complicate access to overnight facilities and transportation.

What SAFPAW does and who it serves

SAFPAW describes its mission as helping Nashville’s homeless community navigate daily hardship with their pets, while also extending pet services to low-income residents who are housed but living at or below the poverty line. The organization also says it runs active homeless outreach and operates a small transitional post-recovery house for women known as Perian’s Place.

In public descriptions of its work, the organization identifies several core needs it finances outside of grant-supported spay-and-neuter activity, including pet transportation, emergency veterinary care, homeless outreach operations, and costs associated with the women’s transitional recovery home.

• Street outreach that includes basic necessities and support during extreme weather periods
• Veterinary-related assistance such as vaccinations, spay/neuter coordination, and emergency care planning
• Pet food and supplies for households facing poverty
• A transitional recovery setting for women as part of broader stability efforts

Community recognition and the role of partnerships

Green’s nomination reflects an approach that connects human services and animal welfare—two systems that frequently operate separately despite serving many of the same households. Community-based efforts have also included collaborations with Nashville’s creative community, which has organized fundraising projects benefiting SAFPAW over multiple years. Those initiatives have emphasized winter-season support and have helped raise awareness of the risks faced by people living outdoors.

“The road doesn't seem as long when we're there with you.”

Why the nomination matters in a policy context

While a single nomination does not change service capacity citywide, it highlights a persistent operational reality for outreach teams: effective help often requires addressing both human and animal needs together. For individuals who do not want to be separated from a pet, access to pet-friendly options, transportation, and low-barrier services can be decisive factors in whether they accept assistance.

For East Nashville and the broader city, the nomination underscores how localized, volunteer- and donor-supported programs can function as a bridge between formal systems and people living on the margins—especially when trust, mobility, and immediate survival needs shape day-to-day decision-making.