George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Compassion in Action: The Blue Ridge Humane Society Story

• George Real Estate Group

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When compassion meets commitment, extraordinary things happen. This episode spotlights Angela Prodrick, Executive Director of Blue Ridge Humane Society, whose nine-year journey from volunteer to leader exemplifies the heart of Henderson County's animal welfare movement.

What happens when disaster strikes and animals need protection? Angela shares the harrowing story of Hurricane Helene's impact on their shelter operations, revealing how dedicated staff members slept at the facility for five days without power, ensuring every animal received care despite the chaos. Her emotional recounting of evacuating animals down treacherous mountain roads at 4 AM showcases the lengths this organization goes to protect vulnerable pets.

Throughout our conversation, we uncover impressive statistics that demonstrate Blue Ridge Humane Society's impact: approximately 1,000 animals rehomed annually, 300 active volunteers, and a 75% increase in community support program demand following recent storms. The adoption center in Edneyville not only serves as a second chance for pets but includes thoughtful touches like daily "naptime" for animals to rest from visitor interactions.

Beyond adoption, Angela explains their innovative initiatives including the "field trip volunteer" program where community members can check out shelter dogs like library books for day outings, and humane education programs that teach children compassion and responsible pet ownership. She attributes her service mindset to parents who modeled community involvement throughout her childhood - a powerful reminder that compassion is learned and passed forward.

Want to make a difference in an animal's life? Blue Ridge Humane Society welcomes volunteers, donations to their thrift store (which provides one-third of their operating budget), and of course, adoption applications. With special $20 adoption fees this summer, there's never been a better time to add a furry family member while supporting this extraordinary organization.

Speaker 1:

The George Real Estate Group radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio, live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450 and streaming online at WHkpcom. Each Friday morning at 845,. The George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. It's 845 on Friday morning and that is always our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series time. Every Friday morning we gather with our friend Noah George from the George Real Estate Group and honor some of the community members that take care of our furry friends. This morning we want to welcome Angela Prodrick from Blue Ridge Humane Society in just a moment, but first, noah, how are you doing Well?

Speaker 2:

so much to be thankful for and we're so grateful to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series. You and I have been doing this for a number of years and it's incredible to meet incredible men and women serving our community and that's what makes our community what it is just the sense of the generosity, the volunteering, the philanthropic mindset that our community has. That's amazing.

Speaker 1:

It's very strong here in Henderson County and that's, quite honestly, one of the reasons we do this show and, quite honestly, I'm sure it's one of the reasons that you are a a beneficiary of uh selling real estate in a in an area that has this kind of uh plank in its platform people certainly are attracted to like, like-minded, like attracts like and so when people are coming here, they they recognize it and when they get involved and they a lot of our clients moving here say we were involved in volunteering where we were previously.

Speaker 2:

We want to continue to do that and so when they come here and they discover what an active volunteer community we have, it is amazing and so very involved and there's so much opportunity and so people are coming here for quality of life. But part of that is again being involved in the community. So it's a privilege and honor to help our clients navigate through when they're we're helping people here locally. Obviously you know downsize, upsize, right size, and then we've been helping a lot of people relocate here and it's funny about that is more people are tend to stay here or move here. Very rare are we helping people move out of the community, okay just an observation, but it does happen right.

Speaker 2:

Life happens. You know. There's circumstances that might cause someone to need to move, maybe to an aging uh you know parent or or maybe they want to get. They can't convince the grandkids to move here, but but they're moving closer to their grandchildren and maybe another state. So but on a whole, we tend to see more people coming in, and that's true across the country.

Speaker 2:

North carolina's in the number three uh incoming migrated state, uh in the united states number three now, and so we're certainly experiencing that and just for context, I mean henderson county is averaging 126 single family homes a month selling. Uh, our prices are maintaining where Our average price is in the 530s. You know, it's not what it was in the number of volume, as a few years ago, I mean, we were up at 180 single-family homes a month selling but still 126 homes a month selling and we're so grateful. This is my 20th year helping clients navigate through buying and selling and we work with residential, we work with commercial, we work with residential, we work with commercial, we work with land. You know, whatever it is, we're grateful to serve the community through real estate.

Speaker 1:

And easy to find. One of the things that you do is podcast all of your radio shows, including this one, and you can find those at your website, absolutely, you can also go to georgerealestategroupradiocom.

Speaker 2:

You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. But you can go to realestatebygregcom. You can stop by our office in Flat Rock. We have a dangerous location there, next to the bakery, the Flat Rock Bakery and you can also just call us directly at 828-393-0134. But it's a privilege and honor to sponsor the Hometown Heroes series. Well, it's much appreciated.

Speaker 1:

sir Angela Prodrick is the executive director of the Blue Ridge Humane Society here in Hendersonville. Good morning Angela.

Speaker 3:

Good morning. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

Well, thank you for coming out today. We just wanted to shine a light, if we can, on Blue Ridge, humane Society and all of the goodness that you do in our community. I know that during the storm you guys had some challenges, like everybody did, but how are our furry friends doing?

Speaker 3:

our furry friends are doing okay and that's thanks to my staff and our volunteers. For sure our community has definitely dealt a deft blow from the hurricane. For sure that a lot are still recovering from uh. One of our community support programs we offer, where we give free pet food and supplies to pet owners in our community, has seen just a 75% increase in the last six months. So there's definitely showing a need out there for people who want to hang on to their pets, who love their pets, want to keep them in homes and just need a little bit of extra assistance and that's where we've kind of stepped in to help. So yeah, that's what's going on in our world. It's kitten season as well, so we have a lot of kittens right now, little bitty ones, in foster homes and a big shout out to our foster families because they give their homes, we give food, we give supplies, but they give the time, the love in their homes to take care of those little tiny kittens. But last year we had about a thousand animals move through our adoption center.

Speaker 2:

Wow, that's a lot.

Speaker 3:

It is, and you know each one of those is touched by our volunteers. We have about 300 volunteers with Blue Ridge Humane Society. Each one of those gets love, food, enrichment, play groups, walks all that attention from our staff as well. So I always like to say it's not about the quantity of animals that moves for us, but it's the quality time that we provide for them while they're with us.

Speaker 2:

But you rehomed a thousand animals, a thousand animals yeah. That's significant.

Speaker 3:

It's a pretty good chunk for sure, and about 85% of those come directly from Henderson County Animal Services. So they are the county facility in our area. They have to take any animal that comes to them and we're kind of a safety net for them. So they are the county facility in our area. They have to take any animal that comes to them and we're kind of a safety net for them so they don't have to euthanize for space. So we come in, we take animals from them to make space for when they more animals are coming to them and then we adopt the animals out you guys are also part of a big education uh initiative too with the community yeah, we do a lot of uh, humane education programs, both in schools, historic johnson farms, salvation army summer camp.

Speaker 3:

Uh, we, we get around because one of the big things that we want to encourage with younger generation and kids and this is one thing I'm very passionate about because it's how I started my career in animal sheltering as I was a humane education manager um, at the shelter I came from was teaching compassion and empathy towards animals at a young age. What responsible pet ownership looks like, how a dog is communicating their needs to you, how cat is communicating their needs to you. If we can start at a younger age with kids and as they grow up, then they have that more of their understanding to be a little bit better pet owners. But we're doing the same thing with adults as well, as we're always trying to educate and inform where you guys located yeah, we.

Speaker 3:

Our adoption center is located in edneyville. So I always say just when you think you've gone too far, go a little bit further uh it's right, as the road closes, essentially because of everything that's happening in bat cave.

Speaker 3:

So we are right at the top of the continental divide. Uh, that's where adoption center is. It's open, uh, five days a week, tuesday through saturday, from 10 to 6 o'clock at night. We close, uh, from one to two every day for nap time for the animals. I know that sounds silly, but they need a break from visitors too, especially in this heat, you know I like it, man, it can be my kind of place yeah, yeah, come nap with the dogs, why not?

Speaker 3:

we could volunteer and do that we'll take it volunteer for the nap time randy, come on down, we'll take it. Uh, and then our thrift store yeah, that's what I wanted to ask about yeah, I'm sorry, I talked a lot, no, that's why, you're here we wanted you to. This is your platform. I mean, I've been with Blue Ridge Humane Society nine years Wow, so it's clearly something that means a lot to me.

Speaker 2:

Have you been in this role for the same nine years as executive director?

Speaker 3:

I started as a volunteer and outreach director when I moved here nine years ago and, just like you said, this community, the connection, the love that each just taking care of one another you don't see that often places and it was just an amazing experience to move and step into this community that has been so amazing and welcoming and I've seen that with Blue Ridge Humane Society too. But I started as volunteer and outreach director and I have been executive director for going to be seven years in november that's amazing a bit.

Speaker 3:

So made it through covid, made it through hurricane. Keep on chugging along, you know was there someone?

Speaker 2:

and I? I love volunteering, I love the, you know. I'm always curious, though was there someone in your life that modeled that for you? Oh, 100%, and I'm just fascinated where just connecting the dots there for you, which was so compelling for you to do this as a career.

Speaker 3:

And I get emotional too, so I'll try not to get weepy. But my parents they, from a very young age, just instilled service I in my hometown in western New York so very small town, but we had an Apple Blossom Festival. They were on the committee for that. They helped run that they my mom was my Girl Scout leader, troop leader. My dad was my softball coach. So right off the get-go, from a very, very young age, I learned that in order to give back to everyone, you have to contribute as well. That that's how, what makes a community whole. And, and even till this day, my dad volunteered for his fire department for 30 plus years until just last year. He said I need a little bit of break from it, but I mean from a very young age I just look to them to be the leaders and the mentors that I wanted to be in the world as well. It's awesome.

Speaker 1:

What was it like at Blue Ridge Humane Society during COVID and the storm?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'll try to keep it succinct and not speak too much. The storm was. I will say that was probably the most difficult time Challenging, yeah of working for Blue Ridge, especially, too, in my specific neighborhood in Mountain Home is where I live in that area. I was trapped in my neighborhood for several days, had two trees come down on my house. We had staff that slept at the adoption center when we knew the storm was coming because we wanted someone to be on site to care for the animals. And that morning, when everything kind of settled and we were learning what the destruction was and I couldn't get a hold of them, it was very difficult to think how am I going to get in touch with my staff and make sure they're okay and how are we going to get these animals out of this adoption center? Because we don't have power. We were stuck in the boat with everyone else and we had dozens of animals in our care. But that is a real superhero.

Speaker 3:

Fawn Horton, who is one of our staff. She stayed at the adoption center for five days taking care of the animals day and night. Two staff were able to join her a couple days into it that were able to make it via roads and they had enough gas to do so. Yeah, and myself and one of the other staff kept stopping in checking on them making sure they had what they need. But those, those I mean they sacrificed taking care of some of their personal things that were going on in their life to stay with the animals and take care of them Until, eventually, I was able to put together a transport to move all of our animals out of the adoption center.

Speaker 3:

So I ended up loading them up in a van and myself, a few days after the hurricane, at 4 am in the morning, driving down the mountain to Rutherford with a van full of animals and Caroline Gunther I don't know if you know who she is, but she's on my board and we tried to meet these people to trade off these animals, but we didn't know. If you know electrical lines, it was a really horrifying experience, but we made it.

Speaker 3:

Animals got transferred and safe, and the rest of the animals in our care we managed to get into foster homes. So within a week we had all of our animals taken care of and that's when we said okay, now it's time to turn to our community. What does our community need now that our staff is safe and our animals are safe?

Speaker 2:

Long-winded, I'm sorry, no, no, thank you for sharing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and then you guys started fundraising and trying to repair and replace and whatever right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and we were lucky we didn't have any major asset damage to any of our facilities, but we had a lot of staff who had personal damage and things that affected their life.

Speaker 3:

So what we have been doing since, and we continue to do, is just how can we support our community? We know that bad things happen in the world that people can't control, and loving pet owners want to hang on to their pets, but sometimes, you know, life happens. So how can we step in and help them a little bit to hold on to those animals, so the animals don't end up in shelters to begin with and then eventually might have to be euthanized for one reason or another? So that's one of our big things and pushing adoptions right now we're $20 adoptions just to try and move as many animals out of our facility as possible during the very busy summer months.

Speaker 1:

You'll be at the Acousta Trail grand opening today, right.

Speaker 3:

Yep. Two of our staff, katie and bridget, will be there hanging out with the acoustic trail opening very excited, yeah, uh, we're trying to encourage field trip volunteers to step up a little bit more, so that's people that can just check a dog out like a library book for the day and take him on a walk or a hike and then bring him back to the adoption center uh, what a great program yeah so we're trying to encourage more of that to get the dogs out of the shelter for the day.

Speaker 3:

Uh, so they're going to be there talking about that and also just talking about, uh, with this heat, about how to take care of your animals, with with all of all this hotness going on, especially with pavement, and watching for being careful with paws on hot pavements and I'm sure there's a ton of other volunteer opportunities with you guys.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, coming out to our adoption center and I mentioned the thrift store before and then I got sidetracked, as I do. But we have our thrift store. A hundred active volunteers are there every single week doing at least three hours.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

A hundred volunteers, yeah.

Speaker 3:

We depend on them. Big. That thrift store is one-third of our budget. A lot of people think it's cake or it's extra, but no, we depend on that money. We need that money.

Speaker 1:

And that was the biggest thing from the storm is that? That ended up closing for several weeks and hurting us, hurting your income there. Yeah, oh gosh. Angela Proder, we are so happy you came in and talked to us today about our furry friends and taking care of them. We've got a certificate there that says thank you, that's very kind and then some gift certificates from local businesses, that's very sweet

Speaker 1:

thank you so much for what you do in our community and if we can ever help you in any way, let us know. Noah, you are the man taking care of our sponsorship. Thank you so much. It's a privilege. We'll be back with you next Friday morning on the George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 1:

The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, north Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygregcom. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-393-0134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, flat Rock, north Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 10.05 am, at 10.05 am on WHKP 107.7 FM and 14.50 am, or stream online at whkpcom or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The George Real Estate Group brings you the WHKP Hometown Hero Series every Friday morning at 8.45.