By Eduardo Castillo/The Wichita Eagle
Maria Montoya, 65, picks up a nearly 40-pound sack of dog food from a mini-van and lugs it up a driveway to a Planeview home.
She’s greeted by a Great Dane and a short-haired black cat, both excited to see her.
This isn’t her home, or her pets.
Instead, she’s delivering pet food and supplies to Planeview residents as a volunteer for Wichita Animal Action League’s Pets for Life Program.
Now Montoya, who has experienced being homeless with her pets in the past, is being recognized for her love and service to animals and people.
She has been nominated for the More Than a Pet Community Hero Award through the Humane World For Animals. The award honors people who care for animals and people in underserved areas in their community. Montoya is one of three nominees nationwide that the public will vote on.
“I love and care for these animals because they can’t speak for themselves,” said Montoya. “I like volunteering as a way to give back to the community.”
A passion for animals and people
Montoya was nominated by Kylee Wallentine, the Pets for Life specialist at WAAL. The two met one day in May 2023 when Wallentine was giving supplies to one of Montoya’s neighbors.
Now, the two women hop in a mini-van loaded with dog food and supplies and drive house to house in Planeview, often knowing the residents and their pets by name.
They share a love for animals, and Wallentine refers to Montoya as family.
“It’s just some people, you can see that they match your energy, and they have the same passion and love for animals and people that you do. That’s what her and I got going.”
Wallentine recalled the first time the two went to a homeless encampment together. Montoya has twice experienced homelessness, with the most recent instance in 2015.
“It took Maria probably a good six months to open up to me about her past, and I had no idea, because she wears this thick shield of armor around her,” Wallentine said. “Hearing her stories of being homeless and then watching her help the homeless, it just spoke volumes.”
After being homeless, she helps others and their pets
Montoya is from Santa Fe, New Mexico, but followed a former partner to Wichita. She went back home to Santa Fe and returned to Wichita permanently in 2020. She moved into the Planeview neighborhood in January 2023.
“Ever since I’ve been up here, I’ve had some ups and downs, and I’ve been homeless twice,” Montoya said.
She had three cats the last time she experienced homelessness.
Unfortunately, all three died. “It killed me,” Montoya said. “Because that’s all I had to come home to.”
Now, she has four cats and a chihuahua puppy at her Planeview home. She also feeds and takes care of over a dozen feral cats and dogs.
And she has established relationships with residents of a homeless camp and their animals, handing out food, clothes, toiletries, pet supplies, blankets, hats and gloves.
“I’ve been there,” Montoya said. “If I can give back a little bit, that means a great deal to me.”
Wallentine and Montoya delivered goods Tuesday to Anna Robinson at her homeless encampment in Planeview. Robinson has two dogs, Sassy and Skunky. She said is grateful for the two women helping her out.
“It means a lot to me,” Robinson said. “It means keeping my animals healthy.”
Robinson has chronic depression and says her dogs help alleviate that. “She [Sassy] pulls me out of it,” Robinson said. “I can sit here … pet her and talk to her.”
Montoya is on disability and has had back and knee surgeries. She recently learned that she has a heart condition, but says these things will not stop her from volunteering for as long as she can. She said she was shocked to learn that she was nominated for the award.
“That day I cried,” Montoya said. “I’ve always cried tears of sadness, but these tears that I cried that day, they were tears of joy, happiness and being proud of myself.”
If you’d like to vote for Montoya, click here. The other two award nominees are in Miami, Florida and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The winner will receive a $10,000 grant to keep helping people and their pets. Voting ends April 16.
This article was republished here with the permission of: The Wichita Eagle