About us

My name is Amy Sanchez, and I am the creator and Executive Director of Kommunity Kritters. I live, work and volunteer in the Tree Streets neighborhood of Lewiston, Maine. More than 50% of the residents in the Tree Streets live below the poverty line and there is a large homeless population. Our neighborhood has many needs, and our goal is to contribute to improving health outcomes in this area. Working with Healthy Neighborhoods, our first grant-funded project allowed for the hand-sewing and distribution of over 2,000 free fabric masks to our neighbors to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

I personally know what it is like to be homeless and not be able to provide for a pet I love dearly. I cannot imagine being without my pets, Mazie, Yoda, Dexter, and Georgie. I know many people will feed and care for their pet before themselves. This is the reason I have created Kommunity Kritters. We have food pantries and other resources for our humans but the accessible resources for the pets we love are needed as well. In addition, many in the Tree Streets do not have transportation to get to the pet pantry located at the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society.

With a $6000 grant from Healthy Neighborhoods and in collaboration with Kaydenz Kitchen and the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society, we established a pet pantry at Kaydenz Kitchen in 2021. The pet pantry is easily accessible to the Tree Streets and provides food and supplies for pets. We also have an annual Kommunity Kritters event to help promote the pet pantry, pet vaccine clinics and installation of pet waste stations throughout the neighborhood. It is our hope our residents will embrace the availability of these resources for their pets as we strive for a happy, healthy community.