Hearts Alive Village in Las Vegas tops 5K animals rescued

At 10 years old, Kendall Stevens wrote in her journal that she dreamed of running an animal shelter.

“Is this really your dream?” her mom, Christy, asked after she saw the entry.

Kendall said yes.

More than eight years later, Hearts Alive Village has rescued more than 5,000 animals, a staggering feat for an organization that started from a note in a fifth-grader’s journal.

On a Friday afternoon in May, flanked by cats waiting to be rescued at Hearts Alive’s animal rescue center, 1750 S. Rainbow Blvd., the mother and daughter talked about the journey.

“I can’t even believe that my dream is happening right in front of my eyes,” said Kendall Stevens, now 19. “And that we’ve been able to accomplish so much and grow so quickly, because my mom is a superwoman.”

Christy Stevens, 54, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit, took her daughter’s idea and grew it. They started Hearts Alive Village, which included Kendall’s Kupboard, a pet food bank, in 2013. The two would drive around Las Vegas and bring pet food to people in the program. They then started trying to find homes for foster pets — the Stevens house has had foster pets since Kendall was born — and expanding Hearts Alive Village.

In January 2014, they rescued their first pets, a pair of pit bulls named Roxy and Diesel. After a foster home fell through, and with her home already filled with animals, Christy Stevens had to get creative. She decided to rent a house in her neighborhood, and Roxy and Diesel lived there with a woman Stevens had met at The Shade Tree, an organization that provides shelter to women and children.

“We used it as a place where if we didn’t have foster homes, then at least we had it as a fallback,” Christy Stevens said. “Because our house was full. We couldn’t take everybody in our house. And we ran that house for a little while, until we got this place.”

The rescue center opened in 2015, which helped Hearts Alive expand on its mission and save more pets. They rescued 42 animals in their first year. Rescue numbers continued to grow each year as they found more resources and started to provide more programs to the community.

As they hit 5,000 rescued animals at the beginning of May, they still have big plans for the future. In her original journal entry, Kendall Stevens wrote that she wanted “10 acres of land” for rescue animals. But while space for animals is important, it’s even more critical to create local infrastructure so that these animals can consistently find forever homes, Christy Stevens said.

The Stevenses said they want to save any animal they can find. They’ve helped rescue cats, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs. They say they’ll be ready for horses and pigs in the future; they just need more space. The family is currently housing four dogs — Lady Bird, Melody, Joey and Bethany — and three cats — Binx, Iris and Jade.

“You can’t just sit here and react to this problem of pet homelessness,” Christy Stevens said. “It’s so brutal. It’ll give you compassion fatigue. Unless you feel like you’re becoming part of the solution.”

More information about Hearts Alive Village can be found at heartsalivevillage.org.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.