At 829 Chicago Avenue in southeast Evanston, a storefront window allows passersby to peek into a whole room of adoptable felines. Paws and Claws animal shelter opened in 2020, and was a remote, fully foster-based program, before moving into a physical adoption center in 2023.
“Paws and Claws focuses on rescuing cats that are at risk of being put down,” said founder and executive director Ashlynn Boyce.
Boyce noted that common at-risk cats look very similar, like tabbies and black cats, as well as shy, older cats who may be overlooked, making them especially vulnerable to euthanasia due to overflow. Five years since its inception, the shelter is thriving and saving lives, rescuing almost 900 cats from six states. This has been in large part due to their community support and an ever-growing group of volunteers and fosters. High school students aged 18 years or older have the ability to volunteer, but even those who do not meet this requirement are offered many fun opportunities to keep involved with the shelter.
When reflecting on 2025, Boyce shared that Paws and Claws is most proud of “celebrating our fifth anniversary as a rescue and having our Inaugural Gala in March of 2025, which was a celebration of our growth in both community and impact over the five years.”
As a community-based organization, most of the shelter’s funding and resources come from local donors. In 2025, with many Evanstonians facing financial uncertainty, the shelter struggled to keep up its donation totals.
Looking to the year ahead, Boyce and Hayley Lemery, the Communications and Events Coordinator, hope to widen their outreach and their impact by rescuing more cats from more shelters, while finding new ways for the community to be involved and support. Lemery had an optimistic view of the new projects and activities they are working on to incorporate involvement from younger people.
Peers are not just coworkers or fellow volunteers; they are a family built from the shared affinity of being cat-lovers.
Some of Paws and Claws’ growing array of activities and fundraisers are cat yoga, cat craft night and cat visitation, where anyone can show up with friends or just by themselves and hang out and play with cats of all kinds, while supporting a local non-profit in Evanston.
After observing volunteers and staff during a morning Cat Care volunteering shift at the shelter, volunteers sign up for a time slot and help around the shelter with tasks like feeding cats cleaning rooms the volunteers are super friendly and there is an overwhelming feeling of community and love for what the shelter does, displayed by the significant amount of dedication and care that the volunteers put into their work. After talking to some volunteers and staff members, an unnamed volunteer remarked on why she volunteers.
“I like to be around cats, and I like to be around people who like cats,” she commented; the shelter’s theme in a nutshell.
Others agree, volunteers at Paws and Claws know that their peers are not just coworkers or fellow volunteers, they are a family built from the shared affinity of being cat-lovers.