MEET OUR BOARD AND KEY STAFF

The High Plateau Humane Society (HPHS) is an All-Volunteer Organization, whose members work hard to help Modoc Animals in need. Please consider joining the HPHS TEAM as a Volunteer or Supporting Member. Here are some of the great people you will meet if you do!

 

Kim Marchant with canine friends Tex and Loki

 BOARD MEMBER, PRESIDENT AND STORE MANAGER

Kim Marchant was born in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1958 when it was still a territory. She loved the outdoors and happily lived with her family in a log house just outside of town. Kim’s parents were animal lovers and passed that love on to her. They kept a menagerie of horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, and chickens, and Kim was always rescuing birds and squirrels that she found wounded. It was an amazing childhood that helped shape her as an adult.

After high school, Kim moved to Fairbanks, eventually getting work on the Alaska pipeline. Good pay, but very isolating. So, after three years in Fairbanks, Kim moved back to Anchorage. Tired of the rain, dark and cold, Kim moved to Oakland, CA, in 1984, and was hired right away as a driver for UPS. She was with them for 28 years before retiring. It was a demanding job, long hours, and left little time for much else. She volunteered for the Milo Foundation (a rescue in the Bay Area) when she had time, but felt she didn’t do enough and vowed to volunteer with animal rescues more after retirement.

Kim retired in 2012 and moved to her dream home in the mountain forests near Alturas. Once settled, she started volunteering for the High Plateau Humane Society (HPHS) by helping with various projects. When the President of HPHS left in 2018, and the organization was on the brink of closure, Kim stepped in and took over store operations, joined the Board, accepted the office of President, and shepherded HPHS through significant organizational changes, a major building remodel, and the establishment of our first organizationally-owned dog care facility.

Although funding is still an everyday challenge, and there is much more to do, Kim notes “This is not a one-person job. Nothing would have happened without the dedicated volunteer team we have today. Without them HPHS would simply not exist. I am really proud of our team, but I know we need more help. We need more volunteers to help walk and train dogs, care for cats, work as retail help in the Thrift Store and spearhead fundraising events. We also need community members to join us by contributing ongoing financial support. Still, we are very grateful to the community, and hope to keep helping the dogs and cats of Modoc County for many years to come.”

BOARD MEMBER and VICE PRESIDENT 

Lorri Wion, a long-time resident of Northern California, moved to Modoc County in 1995.  She currently lives on a 40 acre farm with her husband, Alturas Animal Control Officer Craig Wion, their dog Moses and her flock of 20 chickens.  

 

If Lorri had her way, she would stick close to home!  However, this busy lady is in demand, and we feel fortunate that she is willing to lend her ideas and experience to HPHS.

 

 

 

 

 

BOARD MEMBER, BOARD SECRETARY/TREASURER AND

DOG PROGRAM MANAGER

Jennifer with foster dog Tilly

Jennifer (Jenn) Andersen, originally from Coronado, California (back when it was a sleepy little military town), moved to Alturas to retire in 2012. She volunteered for the High Plateau Humane Society (HPHS) on a part time basis in 2014 and 2015, but jumped in with all four feet in 2018 when the doors of HPHS were threatened with closure. Everything "needed doing" then, so Jenn not only took over the dog program at that time, but also became a Board member, accepted the Board Offices of Treasurer and Secretary, and began writing grant requests to corporations and foundations to try to put much needed revenue in our coffers. Jenn has worked full time as a volunteer with HPHS since that time, and was even part of the construction team that renovated the Thrift Store, Cat Adoption Center, Cat Quarantine Room and our Dog Care Facilities.

Prior to her work with HPHS, Jenn received an Engineering degree from the University of California at San Diego, and went on to complete a Master in Public Administration degree from San Diego State University while working as a City Planner and Redevelopment Specialist with the County of San Diego. She later worked for the Cities of San Leandro and Fremont in the Bay Area of California before going into private practice in 2007.

After retiring from City Planning and coming to Alturas, Jenn came out of retirement and worked for a few years as a City Planner with the City of Alturas. However, she says the most fulfilling work she has ever done is her unpaid work in dog rescue, which she has been involved with for over 20 years. She is particularly proud of the herding dog rescue she founded in the Bay Area known as "Cattle Dog Dreams", which operated for eight years and rescued and rehomed over 1,000 Australian Cattle Dogs and herding dog mixes.

"The great thing about large cities like those in the Bay Area is that many rescues can specialize in a particular breed and become known for that breed because there are a lot of rescues in the area and a lot of people who want to adopt dogs. This really helps dogs get adopted quickly," notes Jennifer. "The problem with running a rescue in Alturas is just the opposite. There are no other rescues within a hundred miles, and very few local people are looking to adopt dogs. If all the adoptable dogs are to be helped, we need to take them in, regardless of breed, and send most of our dogs out of the area to other rescues to get them into homes. This is a very costly and labor-intensive process, but we are becoming known for our friendly canines, and so have become very successful at it."

In the coming years, Jenn hopes to get more people to join the HPHS Team as either Volunteers or Supporting Members so that the work of rescue can be spread out over more people, and the cost of rescue is more reliably supported.