Topeka, KS

Our Topeka Team Leads and volunteers work in unbridled collaboration to raise money for their local chapter of The Street Dog Coalition. To donate to their efforts to provide free veterinary care to pets of people experiencing homelessness in Topeka, click here. To visit their Amazon Wish List, click here.

Team Leads:

Allison Crow, DVM

Dr. Crow graduated from Kansas State University with her MPH in 2013 and DVM in 2014. Her love of volunteering led her to accept an invitation in 2020 to join case managers from Valeo Behavioral Health and the Topeka Rescue Mission to reach out to homeless members of the community and their pets. After seeing how providing veterinary care helped the case managers build trust with homeless pet owners more easily, the team spent months praying about how to form a program that would be sustainable long term. The Street Dog Coalition was the answer to our prayers! You can find the team driving around to known camps once a month, or in various church parking lots across the city twice a month in coordination with a traveling shower and laundry trailer deployed by Valeo and the Rescue Mission.

Matt Baldwin

With years of experience working along the unhoused community, Matt Baldwin works to connect people to the local resources they need. Matt began cultivating these relationships as a Homeless Case Manager, and invited Dr. Crow to assist on outreach initiatives. Through SDC, the pair have been able to host regular clinics for individuals and their pets. Matt serves as Director of Outreach Services for the Breakthrough House in Topeka.

SDC Ambassador:

Elizabeth Scarbrough

Elizabeth is a 2022 graduate of Kansas State University and a member of the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2026. She completed her University Honors Project in coordination with SDC researching what it is like to experience homelessness with pets in Topeka, KS. She also composed an informational video entitled “Both Ends of the Leash” about the importance of the human-animal bond, since she also has many pets who she could never live without. Elizabeth and Dr. Allison Crow both started providing veterinary care to people experiencing homelessness in collaboration with Valeo Behavioral Health and the Topeka Rescue Mission prior to learning about The Street Dog Coalition. When they learned about SDC, they knew they needed to become a part of it. Thus, the Topeka Chapter of SDC was born and Elizabeth is proud to promote its One Health approach to street medicine, serving both ends of the leash in any way she can.

Our Topeka team host several street clinics and outreach events a month. For more information, visit our calendar or our upcoming clinics and events webpage.

Experiencing Homelessness with Pets Infographic: click here

This infographic and the below video, “Both Ends of the Leash” were created by SDC Ambassador, Elizabeth Scarbrough. Over the course of several months, she surveyed pet owners about the importance of the human-animal bond while experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness.

Partners & Resources:

Topeka Rescue Mission @TRMMinistries
Valeo Behavioral Health Care @ValeoBehavioralHealthCare
Helping Hands Humane Society @hhhstopeka
Stonehouse Animal Hospital @stonehousevet
Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine @ksusheltermed

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