Last year CNN’s Hero of the Year award went to Dr. Kwane Stewart, founder of Project Street Vet, and yes, the big-hearted guy split the prize money with the other nominees. Like love, however, the more he gave away, the more his project received, with The Kelly Clarkson Show and a financial sponsor stepping up to keep spreading assistance to unhoused people and their animal families. The Project works with all-volunteer veterinary teams in at least six cities—so far—to connect simple care with people who often give up a meal to the animals who are their most intimate family.

Dr. Stewart’s website includes a section sharing the poignant stories of people and their devotion to the animals in their care. One unusual vignette told about a woman who lost almost everything in the Santa Clarita wildfire—except for two 25-year-old cockatoos named Jericho and Boo. None of the housing options being offered would accept her feathered family, but she would not abandon them. After a challenging two years on the streets, during which Barbara credits Jericho and Boo with keeping her healthy and her spirit strong, Project Street Vet connected Barbara to an avian veterinarian who could perform the expensive tests needed to qualify for housing.

Shelters are experiencing high intake rates now across the country, and my local rural areas also bear witness to the housing-related reasons people often relinquish their animals. One recent study claimed that 14% of intakes were related to either housing restrictions or loss of housing, and if divorces were added to that—with their frequent change in housing situations—the number would be even higher. Because animal sheltering is typically low on the list of public services supported by municipalities, helping elected representatives understand how much animals matter to their people can raise that profile. As we see over and over, people are not separate or superior, but intimately connected with and, in ways we barely understand, better because of the greater-than-human world and all the creatures who are our kin.