A dream years in the making
Tillie's Safe Haven began with one simple, stubborn belief: no animal should run out of chances. This is how we're turning that belief into a place.
“For years, I’ve dreamed of creating a safe, loving sanctuary for animals who have nowhere else to go,” says founder Barbera Secrist Schmedes. That dream is Tillie’s Safe Haven. A home for the overlooked, the surrendered, and the ones people gave up on.
Based in Marietta, Georgia, Tillie’s Safe Haven is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with an established board of directors building the structure, policies, and resources to carry out its mission. With our tax-exempt status now approved, we’re launching a foster network and raising the first funds toward land and facilities.
Our mission is healing, rescue, and hope. It’s a haven where animals are never rushed, discarded, or forgotten, but safe, cared for, and given all the time they need. We can’t build it alone, and we don’t want to. We’re building it with you.
Tillie’s Safe Haven is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing short-term and long-term care for dogs at high risk in local animal shelters, including those facing euthanasia due to space limitations, senior status, or medical needs.
The organization plans to provide humane housing, veterinary care, enrichment, rehabilitation, and adoption services when possible. Tillie’s Safe Haven is an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with an established board of directors developing the structure, policies, and resources needed to carry out its animal welfare mission.
The organization also intends to support volunteer engagement and community education related to animal welfare and responsible pet ownership.
What guides us
No animal is disposable
We take in the overlooked and the failed. The ones who ran out of time everywhere else.
Healing takes as long as it takes
Here, animals are never rushed, discarded, or forgotten. They rest, recover, and are made ready on their own clock.
Rescue with dignity
Calm spaces, gentle handling, and real medical care. The animal comes first, every time.
Built in the open
A small, honest effort from Marietta, Georgia, growing one supporter and one saved life at a time.