She glows Jessica Henry

Henry went to college at St. Joseph’s in Rensselaer, Indiana, graduating with a degree in communications, and then lived in London for six months after graduation before returning to Fort Wayne. She’s been here ever since.

“At the ripe old age of 46, I’m engaged to be married for the first time,” Henry said. She met her fiancé, Nate Johnson, at North Side High School her freshman year. The two lost touch, but through social media they connected about a year ago. Johnson, a world-class ice sculptor and owner of Johnson Studios, proposed to Henry in front of a massive ice sculpture. He then moved back to Fort Wayne from Chicago, and together they have four dogs and three cats.

Our whole family is proud of Tom, and I’m no exception. He has done a wonderful job with his administration, keeping the city moving forward. If Fort Wayne weren’t so cool now, I probably never could have gotten Nate to move back home. Tom and I are not close in age – he’s the second oldest. In fact, he’s old enough to be my father…and I don’t mind ribbing him about that.

My parents: Jerry and Margie Henry, both of whom were servant leaders in the community. My dad was a lifelong social worker who defended the underdog and was a change-maker. Mom was the kindest caregiver you’d ever meet, and she had a powerful way of making you feel important and loved.

When I arrived at the ACSPCA in the Fall of 2012, adopting animals was a difficult process. I was fortunate to attend a national conference shortly after starting at the shelter, and I absorbed a lot of information about best practices and progressive policies. In short order, we increased our adoptions by 500% (from 500 per year to 2,500) and in doing so, we were able to be much better partners to our colleagues at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control (from whom we receive roughly half of our animals.) Together, we’ve been able to see a huge decrease in the number of animals euthanized in our city.

You get to be around animals all day, to see how well they’re cared for, how much they love the time we spend with them, and then you get to go home, knowing you made a difference. You can play an important role in this temporary situation and help save an animal’s life. We make volunteering easy and fun. You can click on the link on our website, www.allencountyspca.org, and complete the questionnaire. After a tour and an orientation, volunteers can get started right away working with animals or in our pet social service program called Pet Promises, where we help care for the pets of the elderly and shut in.

The Allen County SPCA is not a chapter of the ASPCA. We are a standalone nonprofit that survives on the generosity of our community. When you see those sad commercials on TV…remember that’s not us. To keep your donations local, and to support our hard work here at home, you can visit our website and become a member. Secondly, my greatest hope for homeless animals is that people will see their value and consider adoption before purchasing pets from a pet store, backyard breeder or rural puppy mills. Homeless animals need us now more than ever, and if people are just a tiny bit patient, the perfect pet will be waiting for them at their local shelter. I promise. a

The three best forms of exercise for women are walking, yoga and circuit weight training; all of which can lower your risk of developing breast cancer. What else can help you fend off breast cancer? Besides physical activity, a healthy diet, a monthly self-exam and your annual screening mammogram.

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