Humane Health Coalition Business Plan
Humane Animal Rescue
Economic Equity
HARP is dedicated to the welfare of animals, pet owners, and the community with a vision to bring about the end of animal abuse, suffering, and homelessness in the Pittsburgh region, operating. low-cost veterinary centers and maintains a fully licensed wildlife rehabilitation center, providing a safety net for a diverse community of animal lovers, in a passionate environment with a trusted voice.
HARP engaged Fourth Economy to help develop a business plan for the newly proposed Humane Health Coalition (HHC) and addition of a mobile veterinary unit. The Humane Health Coalition will use the concept of One Health, a model that is being adopted widely as a new approach in healthcare, designed to develop a continuum of care between human health, veterinary health, and human and animal support services via mobile clinic and partnerships to meet the community where they are. One Health uses a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely related to the health of animals and our shared environment. The HHC will use a mobile vet clinic as well as partnerships with community-serving entities to overcome cost and access barriers and meet people where they are.
Our Approach
To develop this business plan, an analysis of current conditions and community need for services was performed, including an assessment of federal, state, local, and nonprofit data sources to understand local demographics and socioeconomic trends — including pet ownership, poverty, and care trends over the last 10 years. In addition, key local stakeholders were interviewed about current strengths and service capacity in the region, as well as needs and gaps that exist that might be fulfilled with this concept. Finally, similar programs from around the country were examined through desktop research and interviews with program administrators, to understand best practices and extrapolate potential operating models for the HHC.
The Results
The final business plan documentation outlines HARP’s approach to the structure and partnerships required for the Humane Health Coalition’s implementation of programming on a phased schedule, funding considerations, and metrics of program success and community impact. A shorter Executive Summary and accompanying Deck serves as “Pitch Deck” for HARP’s leadership to quickly present the concept to external stakeholders. Published in March 2023, HARP has been using these documents to share the Human Health Coalition project with potential partners, collaborators, and funders.
Location
Greater Pittsburgh Region