Janet Tedesco’s Story

The family that received the Angels in the Streets gift are located in Littleton, Colorado. They were chosen for their unwavering kindness in the face of recent challenges. My daughter met the family at the animal shelter where they adopted a dog. The dog was found tied to the door of the facility on a winter morning in pitiful condition. A closer examination showed that this dog would require special care for life, not usually good news for a shelter dog. When he was finally healthy enough to go up for adoption, our family of 4 dropped in. They were bubbly and enthusiastic and once they found this dog, their perfect match, that was it. Following adoption, picture and video updates showed a shelter pup living the life of his dreams and a family that found their missing piece. No more than a month later, however, the family woke up to their residence in flames. All humans and animals were safely evacuated, but the residence was a total loss. The family has temporary housing, but they continue to pay a mortgage for a home uninhabitable. Six months have passed and they continue to reside in their temporary home, but costs continue to build and there has been no progress in the rebuilding of their home. Despite their struggles, these individuals have kept an admirable outlook and never once did they consider giving up on their canine family members, even though finding housing with large dogs is an added challenge. They remain in touch with animal shelter personnel and continue to visit periodically, bringing everybody a huge smile when Hercules bounds into the lobby.