ABOUT
OUR MISSION
Pillows for Paws® (PFP) is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing comfort and love to shelter animals in New York City--cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs (and more!) through the monthly donation of essentials, including beds, blankets, toys, food, and treats.
Each year, approximately 25,000 animals arrive at the city’s shelters due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Creating a safe and supportive environment is crucial to their transition. When animals feel cared for and valued, they develop trust, calm, and confidence, allowing their personalities to shine through and improving their chances of adoption.
Our mission is to provide comfort, care, and enrichment to shelter animals while fostering a compassionate community whose kindness for animals helps create a better world. How we accomplish this mission is unique and personal.
Volunteers at monthly in-person meetups make soft, comfortable beds, blankets, and toys, and others are collected from those who prefer to DIY at home. Programs have included visits to schools, corporate offices, and jails to teach students, professionals, and inmates awaiting trials how to create items for the animals.
Donors can support the animals financially or contribute to a variety of ongoing goods and foods funds. Help with transporting donations is also welcome.
What began as a small idea—a few volunteers sewing beds in an apartment—has grown to a community ranging in age and drawing upon individual skills and interests to annually provide thousands of in-kind donations to animals while they wait for their forever homes.
Helping animals nurtures empathy and kindness in people. Children, in particular, gain early lessons in compassion, connection, and the importance of caring for other living creatures.
Pillows for Paws® ends up having a dual purpose—helping animals helps humans as well.
Massive PFP Project Provides Comfort for Queens Shelter Cats and Dogs
Pillows for Paws® has completed the significant task of making 180 kennel curtain covers for the Queens Animal Care Center, a project requested by the shelter staff to help their animals feel more secure.
Handmade by our volunteers with care, these curtains are more than fabric — they’re essential support. They give cats a sense of safety as they wait for adoption and provide sick cats and dogs in the medical department a quiet space of their own. In a busy shelter, where many animals are fearful or overwhelmed, a simple curtain can make a big difference in helping them adjust and feel at ease.
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OUR TEAM
The Heart Behind Pillows for Paws

Jen Halpern
Founder and Executive Director
Jen leads the mission of Pillow for Paws®. For 14 years, she has been dedicated to ensuring that shelter animals receive the small comforts that make a big difference until they’re welcomed into loving homes. She loves working with the group of dedicated volunteers who share her passion and commitment--a supportive network that makes this mission possible.
Pillows for Paws ® began with Jen’s desire to help the shelter animals she visited—since she couldn’t bring them all home with her! Despite having no crafting or sewing skills, she set her sights on creating a more comfortable environment for by making “cage comforter” beds with a few friends. And Pillows for Paws ® blossomed into an impactful, heart-centered community movement.
In addition to her work with PFP, Jen is a casting director and energy healer, utilizing her creativity, intuition, and compassion. She shares her home with Jade, the wisest cat there is.

Julie Ulrich
Board Member and Secretary
Julie’s love of rescue animals began as a child when she shared a deep bond with her family’s beautiful rescue cat, Coco. Since then, Julie has adopted and fostered several rescue cats, doing her best to give them the most pampered lives ever. As Board Member and Secretary of Pillows for Paws ®, Julie is thrilled to contribute to PFP marketing strategies in the effort to get the word out about this amazing organization. Julie works as a marketing copywriter and intuitive animal communicator and lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and two rescue cats, Calla and Faro.

Simina Calin
Board Member and Director of Sewing and Crafts
Simina has been involved in animal welfare since high school and has volunteered with several rescue organizations in New York. She has fostered numerous animals since 2009, including cats, dogs, rabbits, and rats. In 2012, she discovered Pillows for Paws® and combined her love of crafting with helping animals. Simina oversees the design and programming of handmade beds and toys for shelter animals. She lives in Manhattan with her rescue dog Ruby and two rescue cats, Teresa and Sandy.

L.E. Hartmann
Board Member and Humane Education Development
A native New Yorker, L.E. grew up in Queens with a mom who couldn't say no to neighborhood strays. That love and respect for animals prompted her lifelong commitment to animal rights. L.E. loves Pillows for Paws® because it builds community, supports our public shelters, provides education--and is fun! She is the faculty advisor to the PFP club at the Nightingale Bamford school, where she teaches United States history. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in Humane Education, L.E. applies what she learns to strengthen the work done by Pillows for Paws®. She shares her home with Lucky, a handsome pit bull adopted from the ACC.

Alice Kim
Board Member, Pawtographer, and Craft Coordinator
Originally from Los Angeles, Alice blends her trendsetting West Coast roots with her metropolitan New York City lifestyle. First a happy client of a real estate agency, she now is Media Director for the brokerage. As a child, Alice constantly brought home stray animals. Her love for animals in need only deepened; hence Pillows for Paws® is an important part of her life. Alice cherishes down time with her feline companions Rufus and Shaq.

Hannah Pregont
Creative Content Strategist
Hannah is a seasoned creative director and brand manager with a passion for building meaningful brands—and giving back. Through her volunteer work with PFP, she applies her expertise in content development, marketing strategy, and visual storytelling to amplify the voices of NYC’s shelter animals. Blending heart with design, she helps create campaigns that are both emotionally resonant and impactful. Hannah shares her downtown Manhattan home with her two rescue cats, Hughie and Teddy, who remind her daily why this work matters.

Todd Ames
Marketing and Development
Todd brings years of experience in marketing communications and fundraising to his volunteer work with Pillows for Paws®. He is instrumental in spreading the word about NYC’s shelter animals through writing and producing the organization’s monthly email newsletter, crafting fundraising appeals, and managing social media. With a background at Viacom, NBCUniversal, and Bloomberg Media, Todd helps grow resources that make a difference for animals in need. He shares his home with two cats.

Susan Lewin
Marketing Communications
Susan applies her editorial and business expertise to capturing and communicating the essence of the PFP message through website content and the soon-to-launch Pillows for Paws ® blog. The blog will feature stories from education to advocacy to heart warmers. She fell in love with the first dog she ever lived with when her then 10-year-old daughter said little other than “puppy, puppy, puppy,” until the family brought one home--and quite soon that love spread to all dogs! Lola, her second-ever pup, a three-year-old Havanese, dominates her NYC home.
PILLOWS FOR PAWS PRESS

NYer of the Week
Jen Halpern Provides Comfort and Love to Furry Friends in City Shelters

The Dodo
People Are Making Homemade Blankets To Help Shelter Pets Feel Safe

Huffington Post
Meow! Handsome Fellows Pose With Cute Pets To Raise Adoption Awareness

AMNY
Tails of NYC RescueMen Calendar

Sniff & Barkens
Sniff and Barkens Video on Pillows for Paws

PetGuide.com
The Tails Of NYC RescueMen Calendar Is Pawsitively Fetching






