About Us

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue (POMDR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in October 2009. POMDR is dedicated to finding new loving homes for dogs whose senior guardians can no longer care for them due to illness, death, or other challenging circumstances, and to finding homes for senior dogs in animal shelters.

We also help non-senior dog guardians on a case-by-case basis who are facing difficult circumstances and need to surrender their dog. When such times strike a family, knowing that their dog will be cared for helps them to cope with whatever challenges they are facing.

We have a lifetime commitment to all the dogs that come into our care. They will either live out their lives in one of our foster homes or will be adopted into a wonderful, permanent home.

POMDR is run by a seven-person board of directors who volunteer their time to make a difference in the lives of dogs and the people who love them. POMDR is also supported by a network of over 100 volunteers committed to helping POMDR fulfill its mission, by helping with foster care, adoption events, transportation, office work, and other tasks as they come up.

Our vision is to model lifetime care for dogs and all companion animals to help bring about a positive change in the way society thinks about and treats senior dogs and to create better lives for them through rescue, foster, adoption, hospice and education.

Board of Directors:

President - Carie Broecker served on the board of directors for Animal Friends Rescue Project (AFRP) from January 1999 - October 2009. She volunteered in many capacities including unpaid Executive Director, fostering cats and dogs, writing grants, and putting on fundraisers. Carie has a background in accounting and has a B.A. from UC Santa Cruz in Sociology with a minor in Business Economics. She publishes a quarterly magazine for dog lovers, Coastal Canine, which is distributed in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. She also runs a pet sitting business.

Vice President - Monica Rua is a co-founder of Animal Friends Rescue Project (AFRP) and served on the Board of Directors for 11 years. Eight out of the eleven years she was the board president. Monica was active in overseeing  all facets of operations of the organization for many years as well as developing all communications such as the website, newsletter, educational materials, and brochures and designing the computer programs including the fund raising and volunteer databases and the animal tracking system.  Monica also fostered many dogs and cats and was a much valued dog behavior consultant. Monica has a background in software engineering and has a Master of Science, Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (MSAI), from Stanford University, and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a minor in Philosophy. She worked at Sun Microsystems and was Education Director of Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose before launching into rescue work.

Treasurer – Joanne Crist is an inactive Certified Public Accountant, having been required to leave active practice for medical reasons. She holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. Prior to leaving the paid workforce, Joanne spent over twenty years with two of the world's largest international accounting firms, in a number of locations and capacities. She ended her career in the-then San Francisco national office of Price Waterhouse, where she advised on technical accounting and auditing matters and SEC registrations. Since Joanne's "retirement", she has participated extensively in fund-raising activities for her son's schools, including co-chairing the Annual Carmel Mission Fiesta. Joanne also spent several years donating her financial expertise to the SPCA finance department. She joined POMDR in January 2011, as Adoptions Manager. Joanne and her husband, Bruce, are long-time supporters of animal welfare.

Secretary - Kathy Henney is a Registered Nurse, retired after a 40 year career in the Operating Room. She has a BS in Nursing and a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration from California State University Long Beach. Following her move to the Monterey Peninsula in 1996, Kathy began her volunteer work for the animals assisting the off-site adoption coordinator for the SPCA of Monterey County on a regular basis. Other volunteer experiences include serving for four years with the city of Carmel on the Historic Resources Board and 14 years with Pacific Repertory Theater. Kathy was a member of the St. Bernards, a group in Carmel looking out for seniors who needed assistance. With this special interest in seniors and senior pets, she joined POMDR as a volunteer in April 2010.

Board Member – Karen Sheppard, a life- long resident of the Monterey Peninsula, most recently worked as staff support with the award winning Parents’ Place Program for 10 years before spending a year on staff at Animal Friends Rescue Project (AFRP). While at Parents’ Place, she helped manage finances, produced the newsletter, handled all the quarterly registration of 300+ families, and fielded thousands of questions. She also organized and maintained donations of children’s items for migrant worker families, for Nancy Costello’s program. As Office Manager at AFRP, she was responsible for maintaining the adoptions data base, handled general calls from the public, supported the cats and dog adoption programs, was event assistant for the annual fundraiser, and helped lead and support dozens of volunteers. "As I move on into the next phase of my life, I too contemplate the many issues that arise as we get older and have pets to care for. I look forward to offering support and assistance on all levels concerning this issue."

Board Member – Elle Brookman has a background in professional sales and marketing. She has been a volunteer with Animal Friends Rescue Project since 2000 fostering, handling adoptions. working at events, and helping with numerous fundraising projects throughout the year. In 2003, Elle was trained as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Monterey County, and has been an active child advocate for the past six years. Lastly, Elle’s latest work endeavor is staging homes for the real estate market.

Board Member – Marilee Geyer has extensive experience in animal advocacy spanning over 25 years in a wide variety of roles. She is well versed in animal shelter operations, having served as Animal Care Supervisor, with responsibilities that included kennel management, shelter staff supervision, all aspects of animal care, and euthanasia. She also held the position of Director of Community Relations, which included acting as media spokesperson for the shelter, writing and producing the shelter magazine, educational literature, press releases, a slide show for community educational presentations, and co-hosting a weekly talk radio show. She is the co-author of the award-winning book, One at a Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter. Marilee is also the co-founder of the nonprofit publisher No Voice Unheard, which is dedicated to promoting an ethic of compassion and respect for all living beings and the planet we share.