Have you ever seen the videos of pets of people experiencing homelessness treated on the streets of Los Angeles? Well, it may have been due to Dr. Kwane Stewart’s incredible work. Dr. Stewart has dedicated himself to preventing the separation of pets from people who love them. He is the co-founder and Board President of Project Street Vet, which started primarily on Skid Row in Los Angeles and now has 6 different locations across the country. And in case you haven’t heard, just recently, Dr. Stewart was recognized with the 2023 CNN Hero of the Year award. Learn more about his story in this episode of People, Pets, and Purpose.
Find Human Animal Support Services Online:
Have you ever seen the videos of pets of people experiencing homelessness treated on the streets of Los Angeles? Well, it may have been due to Dr. Kwane Stewart’s incredible work. Dr. Stewart has dedicated himself to preventing the separation of pets from people who love them. He is the co-founder and Board President of Project Street Vet, which started primarily on Skid Row in Los Angeles and now has 6 different locations across the country. And in case you haven’t heard, just recently, Dr. Stewart was recognized with the 2023 CNN Hero of the Year award. Learn more about his story in this episode of People, Pets, and Purpose.
Find Human Animal Support Services Online:
Welcome to another episode of People, Pets, and Purpose, a show about the human-animal bond and what really matters. I'm your host Diaz Dixon, the Maddie’s®Advisor for External Affairs and Partnerships for the Human Animal Support Services project. Today, I'm pumped. I'm actually beyond pumped. I'm super thrilled to be speaking with Dr. Kwan Stewart. Dr. Stewart is the co-founder and board president of Project Street Vet, which started primarily on Skid Row in LA, and now has six different locations across the country to help provide free veterinarian services for people experiencing homelessness - which is another love of mine and supporting people who are struggling in that particular arena. And in case you haven't heard, just recently, Dr. Stewart was recognized with the 2023 CNN Hero of the Year award. So you guys - he is, I'm sitting here looking at him right now. He doesn't have his cape on, but he is truly a hero. It's super, super cool. We're honored to have you here today. Doc, thank you for coming on People, Pets and Purpose.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah, thank you, man. I appreciate it. I appreciate being here. Very cool.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah. Well, we are blessed to have you, you know, Project Street Vet is a nonprofit organization that you founded alongside your brother in 2020 to support pets of people experiencing homelessness. Can you share with our listeners just a little bit about what inspired you in starting Project Street Vet? And how did it evolve over time?
Unknown:It sort of starts out as a sad story and it came at a time in my life when - and this surprises a lot of people when I when I tell the story - when I had thought about quitting the veterinary profession altogether. So if I take you back to 2010-2011 - it was during the recession, if you remember - and a lot of people were struggling all around. Economically, some people emotionally/psychologically, but then whenever people are suffering during times like that, pets indirectly or sometimes directly are also suffering. And that was the case I was a shelter veterinarian back then. And it was it was probably the worst time to jump into that arena. But I had never been a shelter vet before. And it was a challenge I decided to take on in 2008. And it was in the Central Valley, California. Central California and Modesto, this particular area, was almost ground zero for the recession. So, you know, it already struggles a little bit - education, crime, socioeconomics, but, the recession came along and it was just like a, you know, mushroom cloud went off in that area. So there were pets just being dropped off in droves. Dozens, dozens, hundreds of dogs and cats being dropped off at our doorstep. We're a municipality, and there's something I want people to understand about the difference between No Kill - which has become a very favorable movement - and municipal shelters. Municipalities don't have the discretion to say "No, we can't take that pet." Or "No, we're we're full, we have too many." Municipalities, by order of law really, are required to take in anything that is brought to the facility. And it's no questions asked. So you don't have have to give an explanation. You can hand over the leash, get in your car and walk away. And so during the recession, when people were having trouble feeding their pets, providing medical, behavior issues, it was just"drop them off", "drop them off". And I hate giving this statistic - this is part of the sad part. But we were euthanizing, some mornings before 10am, 50-60 dogs and cats. And a lot of them were healthy. That's what started to kill my soul. So I was three years into this job, and I remember waking up one day saying "I can't go into work. I just have to do something else." And you and I were talking offline, we were having a good chat about sports and fitness. I have that my background - my dad played pro ball for a little while. And so I thought you know, I'm just gonna go off and do something entirely different. And on this particular day, when I was sitting in front of 7-Eleven, I was just staring off into space for good 15-20 minutes and I was rehearsing my resignation letter in my head. I was gonna walk in that day and and tell our director, "I think it's time for me to leave". I walk into 7-Eleven - again, my coffee. This is a routine for me- and I'm walking out into my left sort of tucked in the corner right outside the storefront was this unhoused man and his dog. I'd seen this man before, as I tell the story, and I'd ignored him multiple times before. But on this day for whatever reason, maybe because of the mindset I was in, I turned the left, I see him, I break pattern and I walk over. And as I'm walking closer, I can see his dog has a pretty serious skin issue. And as I get real close, I can see it's not only bad, it's really to the point where the dog is suffering. And it was as a flea allergy. The sad part about that part of the story is that it was just a basic flea allergy. The dog just had fleas, but it had fleas for so long and so that it had completely destroyed the skin on the rear. And and fleas will do that. So the dog looked like a burn victim when it signed in. It didn't have any hair, the skin was red and bumpy, the dog was was curled up. I approached the man introduce myself, "I'm Kwane Stewart. I'm a veterinarian, I see your dog has some sort of skin itching." And I said, "It looks like fleas." And he said, "I don't know what it is. I just need help. I don't know what to do." He was exasperated, he was desperate. I said, well, if you're here tomorrow, I'll return with something that I think will help. And I did as promised, it was a basic treatment, it was $3 out of my pocket. Or, as I'm now being very truthful, it was $3 out of the pocket of the shelter. It was a little Robin Hood. I treated the dog and saw the same man the same dog about 12 days later, and the dog was transformed. She wasn't acting submissive, she came up to me, she was wagging her tail, and just full of life. And the man sitting in the same spot, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. And he just said"Thank you for not ignoring me." And that that was the moment. That's when I said to myself,"I'm gonna find more people like you. I'm not only not going to quit being a vet, I'm going to do something I haven't done in my career. That's something I think I need to do. And that is go out and find the most needy." And that that was day one of the Street Vet. Wow, that's amazing. You know, here you are on the brink of walking away from this great impact that you're having today, and having no idea that your'Aha moment' was going to be just a gesture of being kind and seeing someone. Because oftentimes, people who are experiencing homelessness, as you and I both know, they don't feel seen. And then for you to take your expertise, and give it to that family in that moment. That's...that is powerful. That is powerful. Thank you for sharing their story. And Whoa! Yeah, it was powerful. I still, you know - that was nearly 13 years ago, but when I think about that moment, I still get emotional sometimes because there was just this exchange of emotion between both of us. And I just...after I did that, I went back and I sat my car and I thought, "Wow, wow, have I been missing the mark my whole career? Should I have been doing this sooner? And there was an element of guilt that came with it too, that I thought I could have been doing this for many years prior, but it found me now. It found me and I'm going to make the most of it. Well, I don't think that was a bad thing. You know, I think everything that you did led you up to that moment in finding your purpose. We often talk on the show about, you know, People, Pets, and Purpose. But really, oftentimes those 'Aha moments' don't happen until they're supposed to happen. And there was an opportunity for you to lead with love and with values. And it has turned into something that has empowered you to continue to be this great beast that's continuing to help people.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah.
Diaz Dixon:That's cool.
Unknown:Yeah, you make a good point. It probably almost had to happen that way to have provided enough motivation and encouragement for me to not be doing it 13 years later. If I had been in a maybe a rosy, sunny moment in my life, and I helped one guy, maybe that it would have been a one-off and that would have been it. But it it came at a time where I was searching for something, desperate for something in my own way. And we crossed paths. And then it was like lightning hit me. That is so cool. It goes to show you that vulnerability is a superpower. And it's sometimes in our most vulnerable moments when we make some of the biggest moves. That is cool. That's really cool. Tell me something - I got a question for you. You're not in a clinic, but you're usually on the streets like down a Skid Row. Can you describe to us what that atmosphere is like? Because it's got to be so expansive. I've spent a lot of time in LA when I was younger, where family would go over and go down to the garment district or whatnot. But I think the atmosphere you work in is really unfamiliar to most people. How do you explain that or describe it? What you'll find interesting is there people there who have lived in LA their entire lives. They have never driven through or or been into Skid Row. And Skid Row - just to paint the picture for people - Skid Row is just south of downtown proper. And obviously, LA is a huge metropolitan area, the second biggest in our country. And just almost a stone's throw south of that - you can you can see the buildings right in front of you- is Skid Row. And it is an area of six to eight square blocks. So it's fairly large. And the best way I can describe it is, if you've ever watched something that just seems so bizarre to you - like maybe the Walking Dead - like "Where it is that? Could life be like that?" You drive through Skid Row and it is that unusual. There are cars broken down. It's almost like there are no street or traffic laws. People just ride their bikes weaving in and out, there are tarps just lined up on every part of this area. Sometimes you'll see someone out cooking on a makeshift gril. Right in the middle of the street, cooking food. And there's barrels with fires going on in them. And it's just...it has a very distinct smell and odor. My first experience there was "I don't know if I'll be able to keep coming here." Because on top of seeing this, you're hit with this topic. Right here in one of the most popular cities in the country - maybe the world- with so much money, right? And so much glitz. And you can almost see the Hollywood sign from Skid Row. You just think"In America, this doesn't sound right or feel right." And then you start to walk through and you see the suffering and the pain of the people. And obviously the pets too. That's where I come in. But you just...you go home some nights you think...I just don't know. Yeah, because it's so big. I always think of it when I go down there. I particularly, when I go to big cities, I always like to go visit some of the toughest areas. And LA is definitely one that...it almost feels like Mad Max when you're going through there. Yeah, yeah, that's that's a good way to put it. It's like the apocalypse came through. Yeah. It's like one of those movies, right? Yeah, and your kind of like the Book of Eli, as you're walking through there.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:A little, yeah, you're probably giving a better description. And it was a lot like that. And then, you know, you literally drive two blocks away and it's normal, right?
Diaz Dixon:Yeah.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:I'll sometimes drive out to get something to eat and I'll drive right back in I'm like...I can't believe that I just...it's almost like proverbial train tracks. You cross the the tracks and oh, this is how the other half live. When you come back on this side, you're like...it is a bizarre feeling.
Unknown:Do you have to equip yourself before you go in every day? Do you have to get yourself pumped up? Is there anything you have to do, do you have any routines? No, not at this point. I would say, again, something that you and I relate to well, is that exercise as an anchor for me. So I almost workout every single morning in some form. It's not always some heavy CrossFit kind of thing. But it could be stretching and push ups. But that helps me and helps reset me. And sometimes I'll work out after the day just to, as I say, blow off some steam, sweat out some cortisol. And that helps me as well. But that's pretty much it. I've been doing it so long now that I know what I need to take. A lot of people that recognize me, I'll walk down the street, they'll say, "Hey, Dr. Stewart!" or, "A buddy I know - his dog needs help." And they'll direct me. At the beginning - I'll share this - in the beginning, it was sketchy.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:You can tell I'm out of place, right? And I'm dressed in a doctor's scrub top just to identify myself. It has my name on it. So I looked somewhat professional. I'm not walking around in slacks and nice shoes. I have tennis shoes and cargo pants but I do wear a scrub tops so people can see okay, this this is a professional.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:But I also look out of place. And I'm weaving in and out of people's areas, their hom, if you will, their yard - some people actually have what they call a yard in front of their tent. And I'm weaving in and out of these areas and so, "What are you doin' in here?" "Hey man, get out of here." And they run me off or I just tell them who I am what I'm trying to do, "I'm not here to take your pet, I'm not here to judge you. I'm just I'm here to give free medical if you know of anybody in the area who has a pet." And after about two or three years of keeping some kind of routine and doing that, now I'm one of them, for lack of a better description, so they see me. I remember there was one time, of course, no mystery that there is quite a bit of drug use in this area. And there are areas that are sort of guarded or run I think by certain people who are selling, and maybe I stumbled into an area on a certain day I shouldn't have been. But I was approached by a guy who was carrying a firearm and he said, "You don't belong here, you've got to get out of here." And I said, "I'm not here for any of that, man. I'm just here. I'm looking for pets." He says, "I'm gonna tell you again, you turn and walk away." And right as he was saying that, someone from across the street came over and said, "Hey, this guy is good, man." He had to vouch for me. "This is Dr. Stewart. He's cool. Don't worry about him." And after that gentleman said that, me and this guy got to talking, and I explained what I did. And he said "That's so cool, man! Hey, that's cool. Can I donate to you?" It went from 'I was about to get shot' to 'How can I help you?'
Diaz Dixon:That goes to show you superpowers right there. You know, you walk in. And you got you got a guy who's ready to give you the boot. And then all of a sudden he's ready to support you. That's really cool. That's really cool. So over the years, you've helped a ton of pets in there. Right? I think I've heard that you have estimated that there have been over 1,00 pets that you've cared for, particularly, in a decade of work with your volunteer work and all this work that you've done. How many do you think you've impacted in that area?
Dr. Kwane Stewart:In the Skid Row area?
Diaz Dixon:In the skid, Skid Row area.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah, it's hundreds. You know, I've been doing this work now going on 13 years and bouncing around most areas of California - from the Bay Area to Sacramento to Central Valley. Obviously, San Diego, where I live. I reside San Diego, and then LA. I'm all over the place, but primarily focused on Skid Row. And yeah, it probably accounts for about 70% of the 1,500 or so cases I've seen over my 13 years. So yeah, there's there are thousands of people that live in Skid Row, Within this area, there are estimates that say 5,000+ - give or take - people living there.
Diaz Dixon:I didn't realize that number was that high.
Unknown:Yeah, sometimes it climbs higher than that by thousands, depending on the season. And about 20% of our homeless - This is a census, a US Census - about 20% of our unhoused own a pet. So if you do the math, there are hundreds if not over a thousand, fifteen hundred pets just right there. Whoa. Is there any particular success story that you have? With any of those pets that stand out to you? There are a lot, yeah. I mean, if I didn't, I would probably need to hang up my scrub top if I didn't have some victories. There are a lot and some are real simple. You talked about being seen.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah.
Unknown:And sometimes you just want to be seen. I've had remarkable saves. And as a vet, those are some of the best moments in our career. A dog that's dying or without care will die. Parvo is an easy one, right? A puppy that gets Parvo has no outlet for treatment. Pet parent has no resources, you know, there's a 50 to 60% chance that puppy is going to die. I come across those, I can save those. And that is a great feeling. And because it's a puppy, you see the puppy, a week later, it's full of life, it's bouncing around, like that...I mean, that is why I do this. But going back to what you said about being seen. Sometimes that's all they want. I tell people this all the time. Most of the pets I see there are in remarkably good health. To dispel any rumors that they're suffering and they're starving - that's that's not the case. It is rare that I come across a dog that is starving because the owner was unable to provide just basic daily nourishment. Out of the thousand to fifteen hundred, maybe twice. Maybe two dogs out of fifteen hundred. We didn't think about that. I think I've seen more dogs in clinic and hospital that come to me that haven't been fed properly then I do in the streets. Because they're feeding their dogs before they feed themselves. Absolutely. And I see it all the time. And in fact, when I gave my acceptance speech at the CNN award that night, I talked specifically about a moment where a man did tha - he hadn't eaten in two days. And he gave up a sandwich that I got him to his dog. So they will do that. So if I do an exam on a dog that's healthy, there's nothing I can do, I say, "Your dog is in great health." You know, "You're doing a great job." I'll tell you what, hearing that from me - hearing from a veterinary professional, "You're doing right by your dog." - it just seems to make their day. I mean, you see this glow, you see the smile come on their face, and I can see the wheels turning and they're just thinking, "Thank you, thank you." Because I know they get criticized all the time, right? People driving by yelling "Why do you have a dog? You can't take care of yourself, get rid of your dog." Just hate a lot of times because they have a pet companion, but they're not in a traditional home. They hear that a lot. So when I'm able to tell them - and again, it's coming from a professional, someone has been doing this most of his life - "You're doing a good job, don't change a thing, keep doing what you're doing." That alone, that exchange alone sometimes is as every bit good as saving a dog's life, because I know in that the mind of that pet parent, they think, okay, they're validated. Right? And they're heard. And then once I cover that, we'll just start talking like you and me. They'll share stories about how they ended up on the streets, and also a personal story. And a lot of times when I'm walking away, I feel like I have a friend. They'll come up and give me a hug and I'll give them my information and say, "If you do ever need anything, you know who to call." That's really cool. That is really cool. And that is so unique, what you're doing, because that's not in a...we're not seeing that in regular veterinarian medicine practices. Not in private practice in shelter veterinarian practices, because you're in the streets. We talked about meeting people where they're at - you are the epitome of that. What you're doing right now, that's pretty powerful. I can imagine that there are some unique challenges to this as well, because it's so different. What kind of challenges do you face on the streets, other than having a gun pulled on you? That are different in your approach than if you were sitting in a clinic? Yeah, the biggest thing is maybe my little entry speech when I meet someone has gotten a little smoother. The delivery has gotten better over the years. But in the beginning, I wasn't always quite sure what to say, again, I'm coming up on a stranger. I'll be walking down an alley Skid Row, I'll turn a corner behind the dumpster, and there's somebody living there with their dog. And, you know, it may startle them. What are you doing here? What do you want? You know, you're law enforcement. You're gonna take my dog? Are you animal control? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I just tell them who I am and what I do. And in the beginning, it seemed like maybe one out of ten would just run me off, regardless of what I tried to say. But now, it almost never happens. I'd say 99% of the time I meet someone, they give me a chance to explain who I am. And they just they let me right in. So obviously that's the biggest difference. In a clinic, someone is paying to come see me, and we know the expectations. We know how this works. In the streets, there's this weird dynamic, where, they don't know me, I don't know them. They don't know if I have an agenda. I don't know if maybe they're dangerous, or, you know, obviously there are people suffering from psychological issues on the streets, and they can be reactive. And so honestly, coming up within a few feet of someone you don't know in Skid Row, there's that uncertainty. But I've just developed a way to sort of stand afar, announce myself, be respectful. And I've realized that they just sort of nod and let me in. You know, as soon as I put the stethoscope in and I get to work...I take a knee, I get to work. And then we're good. They see I am who I am I say I am and then we're good.
Diaz Dixon:You're in your appointment, then.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:That's right, that becomes my exam room. This is my clinic, you're a client. And I'm going to give you all the respect and courtesy I would give anyone paying money.
Unknown:That is so cool. So, listeners out there, you can see why I was so giddy about this particular podcast episode, because what Dr. Kwane Stewart is doing here. Even as he talks about it, you can visualize how incredible it is, and the connection that he's making. Do you find that you have to code switch? That you probably have to really shift your gears a lot in your language, whoever you're you're identifying with? I feel like in the beginning, perhaps. But that is just to explain, as I said, this is what I do. This is who I am. This is why I do it. Because I know it probably feels weird that...it feels weird sometimes that I am where I am. I'm in Skid Row, I'm out of place, but also looking at them looking at me...they're also probably saying the same thing. "You don't belong here, dude." Like, "What do you want?" or, "He's just walking straight through this alley with his backpack." But again, once I break the ice and I get to work, it's funny. I feel like if we were in some Matrix movie, you would just see like walls of a clinic erect over me.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:They're just forming? Yeah, right, some sort of AI and all of a sudden, they're sitting there in a chair and just watching me do my thing and I'm in my clinic doing my job and, in that moment going forward, it feels exactly like that. And then I communicate with them just as I would any client. I try to educate them on a balanced diet. On, going forward, things their pets will need, challenges they may have living on the streets, and what to look out for - parasites are a big one, obviously a bigger one when you live in the streets- and how we need to control parasitism and, what sort of frequency I need to see you to deworm your pet. So I get into some of that. And I tell you, it's just like I'm in a clinic.
Unknown:I love every bit of that. I love the visual and just seeing it and seeing you diving into your practice. Let me go back just a little bit to a question I was gonna ask you earlier. How did you decide to become a veterinarian? I was a boy, seven years old. And I'd always had a love for animals. My mom had pets around a lot. I joke about my dad. And this is nothing on my dad, but he wasn't the biggest animal lover. He didn't grew up around it. And I think that is that is key to having a love for animals, as you get older, as you're around them. And he grew up in the South, and - my father's black - and of course, the south and black folks, there's a history there with dogs that a lot of people don't know about. And so his family never really had had pets. But my mom loved them. And he was fine with us having dogs and in fact warmed up to them a lot of times. But I remember the moment I said, I'm going to be a vet. I walked out of a movie. I'll give you a chance to see if you can guess the movie unless you know the answer already. But I walked out of a movie. I was holding my mom's hand. And I looked up at her. And I said when I grew up, I'm going to be an animal doctor. And the movie, to give you a couple hints, it's still one of my favorite movies today. I was seven years old and I saw in the late 70s.
Diaz Dixon:Old Yeller?
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Nope. It was about a beautiful black horse.
Diaz Dixon:Oh, Black Stallion.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:The Black Stallion. There you go.
Diaz Dixon:I remember that. I remember.
Unknown:Yeah, I walked out that movie, man. And I just..I was mesmerized watching this horse. And this boy and the relationship they had and I came out and said "This is what I'm gonna do." And I told my mom that and she said from that moment forward, that was my focus. I took a higher interest in reading science books and animals and I knew at a very early age where I wanted to go. Now whether you can end up there is another thing because getting into vet school and through vet school, that's another challenge. But, at seven to eight years old, I knew what I wanted to do.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:That is amazing. And it's amazing for a couple reasons. Because I remember that movie, and I had that exact same feeling that you had. Really? Yeah. And so my first job, I actually was under age working at an animal hospital. I ended up getting a job because of that movie at Cheyenne Tonopah Animal Hospital in Vegas, and wanted to be a vet. And then I realized that I would have trouble euthanizing animals. So hearing that story, I felt like - I'm glad that you follow through. If you were able to complete that, that journey, because that is a tough journey. And for those who haven't seen that movie, if you can somehow dig it up and find it somewhere, that was a great movie. That's a classic movie. Yeah, let your kids watch it. It just an old, simple, classic movie. There's not a lot of CGI and crazy stuff going on, but it tugs at the heartstrings, for sure.
Diaz Dixon:Yeah, yeah. So, you know, you've had this incredible journey, with so many sides of veterinarian medicine. And I know that you've experienced that compassion fatigue, because you had that 'Aha moment'. But right before that, leading up to it. How do you navigate when that hits you now? When compassion fatigue is setting in on you?
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Well, I think, you know, now being a vet for 26 years, the thing I've learned the most is to recognize it. When you're younger - and I'll share this with your audience - when you're a young vet, you have a hard time saying no to people. You're you're almost engineered or made to help, to serve, to do your part. And so if your boss is asking you to pull a 12 hour shift, or to come in on the day that's perhaps your day off, you usually just do it. And what's happening at the time - you don't see it at the time - is you're starting to slowly dig a hole. And instead of looking out for yourself in certain moments, you're still trying to give, you're trying to serve. And like me, one day you wake up many years later and realize "I did it to my own detriment. I was too busy trying to help everybody else. And now I'm at this point where I don't want to do this anymore." And that was a sad place to be. I think this younger generation, they're more aware of that. It's talked about more. It was a little taboo to say, "I'm overworked, boss." Right? Back in the day, you're almost afraid to say something like that. You just think about every generation that comes ahead, saying like, "You kids don't know how to work!"
Diaz Dixon:"When I was your age..."
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah, right,"You don't have a work ethic! You don't understand!" Yeah,"When I was young..." And so you grow up thinking, "Alright, I gotta grind, I gotta go." And yes, I get that to a point, when you're young and healthy, it's good to get out and work. But there is something different about this profession that can slowly strip away some of your shine. And it is euthanasia. Some of the cases you see, it's losing animals that you felt like you could have saved or you wonder, at the end of the day, when you're sitting there eating dinner reflecting on your day,"Could I have saved that dog?" And mentally, over time, it can start to get you. So that may look different for different people, it may mean managing your hours and working part-time in this field, it may mean doing something else, like I found, that restores the joy or the purpose. It may mean exercising more, or yoga or meditation, but you need to find that thing in this profession, if you're going to stay in it as long as I have, and use it like a tool.
Unknown:Such great advice, that self care piece - find how to balance things out. And you're right, we are always talking about the next generation. Which I think that the younger people are on to a lot of things that are important, particularly when evaluating their own mental health, and what they're doing and keeping that balance. So that is great advice. Thank you for sharing that, Doc. That's good stuff. Yeah, of course, I, you know, there was a time where I was afraid to let people know that I reached such a low point that I not only thought about ending my veterinary career, I thought about ending me. And that's happening, unfortunately, to a lot of my colleagues these days, and you probably know this, but veterinarians are three and a half times more likely to take their life than the average American. Which is terrible, because you think about what we do and the joy and love we have for what we do and why we wanted to do it. But we end up in this place. There's something that's off. So you said it, yes. Self care, finding a way to manage that part of you. Being aware of it week to week, right? Not year to year, because as I said, you turn back one day, and it's like, "I don't even want to do this anymore." Or, "I don't want to do life anymore." That is a terrible place to be. So yes, it's very important. I'm happy to talk about it these days. I do have veterinarians that reach out occasionally and ask me that same question. And I'm happy to share my story if it can help somebody else. Well, and sharing your story is powerful. And you're right, you know, the suicide rates are so high for veterinarians. And I think for a lot of people who are in the helping industry, we're so used to helping other people and not paying attention to looking at ourselves. And I've always said that, you have to learn how to speak it, like the frustrations and things that build up. Because if you don't speak it, you leak it. And it's going to come out in some way and it usually comes out in a way that's negative or harmful. So having those safe places that we can engage in conversation with people who understand and who are going through it, or can have some empathy, because we're in a world that that doesn't have a lot of empathy these days.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Well said.
Diaz Dixon:And I'm glad that you're a resource for people to be able to talk to. Tell me this, then, how can we find you? How can listeners get involved with Project Street Vet? I'm ready to get involved and ready to dive in and be on Team Kwane. How can others get involved?
Unknown:If you want to learn more about us, I would say just just go to our website, start there. It's
https://www.projectstreetvet.org/. And, you know, we post a lot of information, good stuff, good content, the victories we have, the progress we're making with the charity, the expansion, and that's the part I'm most excited about. I was a one man band. So you know, I talked about doing this now for 13 years, but for the first six years, I didn't tell anybody. I didn't talk about this work.
Diaz Dixon:No?
Dr. Kwane Stewart:No, it was it was...I not only I kept it quiet, I almost kept it secret. And I'll tell you why I didn't want to be judged myself for what I was doing. I didn't want to be hanging out with friends or at a dinner party. And have someone ask me, "Oh, so that's what you do in your free time. Why would you do that? Why would you help? Those people don't need it, they shouldn't have a pet." I didn't want any discouragement or negativity. I just wanted to do it. And as I told you, when we started out this conversation, it really was a way for me to heal and to get back on track to find my purpose again, so I didn't want anyone...I mean, just close your eyes. Imagine this for a second. What if I had, after that first day helping that man at 7-Eleven, I had I called up my mom and said, "This amazing thing happened today. And this is what I want to do. And I have this crazy idea, Mom, I'm gonna sling, like, a bag of drugs over my shoulder. And I'm gonna walk through some of the most impoverished dangerous areas of the city at night or in evenings, and I'm gonna find pets." What do you think my mom would has said? "Hell no, no you're not."
Diaz Dixon:"Boy, have you lost your mind?"
Unknown:And that's my mom. She's worried about my safety. So I had a reason for not telling, not sharing. And so I did that for six years. But what happened is, I was funding this out of my own pocket. But veterinarians, we are not wealthy professionals, as a lot of people may think - we struggle with student loan debt for...I've been doing this for 26 years, I just paid off my student loans a year ago.
Diaz Dixon:Wow.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah. And I'm not complaining, I have a fine life. But you carry this cloud over you for so long. But there were months where I didn't pay my student loans because I was funding this little mission, this private mission of mine. But it started getting expensive. The more cases I saw, the more people I had reaching out to me, it got costly. And I tried to, you know, if I met a pet on the streets, and it needed a procedure in someone's hospital, I didn't have my own hospital at the time, I would refer him in and pay for it. So if it was $500-800 or so, I would bring it out of my own pocket. After six, to seven years of doing that, I just I started to run dry. And I was talking to my brother one day - he was one of the first people I told, and he said he was blown away, "You got to tell the story. You gotta get this out there and people will support this." So he's the one who engineered the charity, and the GoFundMe and, and yeah, it turned into a thing. And what I realized is Americans are so generous when it comes to pet causes. And they've been wonderful. We just have so many great private donors who come in and help us, we have a great title, sponsor in Fetch Pet Insurance. So when I talk about expansion, they're the ones who are helping me go see the city. They have the resources and the infrastructure to help me grow this, but all that is to say yes, in the beginning, I was a one man band for six or seven years. And now we have street vet teams in six major cities around the country. That's awesome. I know, we're wanting to go to more. So we just launched in New York City last month in December. And we want to move on to other major cities and just keep this movement going.
Unknown:Awesome. So for those you listeners out there, you want to get involved. Because we often wonder what we can do in supporting pets experiencing homelessness, even in our own communities. If there's something you want to get involved with, Project Street Vet is a great place to start. I'm sure that there's room for people to come in and help support and it make donations for that program, right? Yeah, we run on resources, we run on donations, and we meet up at the streets, we commit to total care. So it has no costs to that pet parent. Everything is paid by the charity. And it may just be vaccines or it may be a tumor removal and dental extractions that cost $3,000 We cover all costs and so yeah, again, it's generous donations that keep this fuel - keep this fire - going. So anyone who helps, anyone who has helped, who's listening, I want to say thank you. It means the world to us. I don't pay myself, I just want people to know that. I've never taken a dollar from the charity to pay for my time I volunteer my time. That's a commitment I made. My talented veterinarians in all these other cities, they volunteer their time. So when you donate to this mission, the money is going to the pets. We can stretcha dollar. We can do a lot with with a little. That's awesome. That is awesome. And this is coming from a man who has won an award - a financial award - and turned around and shared it with others who didn't win the award. So we are dealing with a fantastic human being here. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, I decided to share the money. That was pretty cool. That's one of the greatest things I've ever seen. Want to tell us a little bit about that story? Well, I you know, it's funny'cause my my son had planted the seed. I was talking to him, maybe a couple of weeks before the gala, and he'd mentioned something like that. I thought that's a good idea, but I didn't give it a whole lot of thought because, you have to win first, right? And you don't get your hopes up - "I'm gonna I'm gonna say the say and do these things when I'm up on stage." I just set it aside, but then I was joking with some friends I was talking with a couple days later and they're like, "What happened?" And I was like, "You know, I don't know man. Did I black out?" It almost felt like, for a moment, maybe...was I up there? I was talking and giving away stuff. Did I give away something else? Did I give away my car, my house?
Diaz Dixon:Your first born?
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah, right? I have no assets nothing no savings? Here's the thing, the other nine honorees from that night were such remarkable people in their own right. They really were. And we spent-previous to the Sunday night gala the live telecast on CNN - two or three days prior that, we spent a lot of time together. We were going to dinners and rehearsal and having a drink. And they were sharing stories very similar to mine - the struggle, the sacrifice, at times to have enough money for gas to get around. And I just thought, you know, this night is about giving and sharing and generosity. And I've met nine other really beautiful people that I know are doing great things with the money. Sometimes when you donate to a cause, you wonder, is it really going to the cause? In this case I know, that $90,000 I shared is going to a great cause.
Unknown:That's awesome. And what a noble thing to do as a beautiful, a beautiful moment, to it's to bless those others that were on stage with you. Well, I can't finish an episode of People, Pets, and Purpose without asking a question I love to ask everyone. And I know you have four pets. So can you tell us a little bit about those four that you have in your life? Oh, these monsters? Yeah, I got three dogs and a cat. The cat is a cat we adopted from a rescue. We have a little Yorkie terrier mix. We have a golden retriever. And then we have Cora. Cora is an interesting story. Cora is a shepherd -husky mix that I actually adopted from my old shelter - the one that I was going to quit and leave many years ago. I returned there, I never thought I'd go back to the shelter. I'll tell this in 30 seconds. I never thought I'd go back to that shelter. But I ended up in Modesto, on other business. And it was now maybe 9-10 years later. You have to understand that place in some ways was great for me, but it was a little traumatic. I think I did walk away some PTSD from the euthanasias and everything else. I just said "I can't go back." But I said, you know, I'm gonna go back because a lot of people I worked with - really amazing people - were still working there. And I just wanted to go in and say hi. I walked in the door. I said, "Hey, I'm here to say hi to you guys. I'm not going back. I'm not gonna see the animals. I can't do that." And before I knew it, I found myself walking up and down the aisles. And before I knew it, I was walking out with a brand new dog. And here we are. But you know, I'm a vet. I love animals. And it's, it's just what we do. That's awesome. I know that feeling too. Well. After I left the Nevada Humane Society - I happened to go back and ended up walking out with my youngest dog, Nala. So that's good. You know, we love animals and animals love us.
Dr. Kwane Stewart:Yeah.
Diaz Dixon:And Dr. Stewart man, I cannot tell you how grateful we are here at People, Pets, and Purpose for you coming on the show today. We really appreciate you taking the time.
Unknown:It was my honor. And thank you for giving me a platform to share my story and just be honest, and a little vulnerable. That's why I enjoy these conversations. If anyone can grab anything from this that will help them going forward then, I've done my part. I love it. Thank you guys for listening. Thank you for tuning in to the wonderful, wise words from Dr. Stewart and the great stories. In a world where we need more human kindness and pet kindness. All together. People, Pets, and Purpose asks us to really focus on those things and why we're here. Also knowing that we need to do more in leading with love, understanding empathy, and being a better you. Thank you for joining us. You will hear us on the next episode of People, Pets, and Purpose. In the meantime, be well and be safe.