🌲 How Adopt a Heart Began
Mission Statement
Adopt-a-Heart is a MeMe, JJ & Friends storytelling initiative that gives rescue pets a voice through observation, animation, and community stories — honoring the quiet hearts waiting to be seen, the animals who have found forever families, and the emotional lessons they leave behind.
How It Began
Adopt a Heart belongs in the Forest because the Forest was born from a real adoption. That adoption is told in Book 6, How Serena Met JJ.
Adopt a Heart began with a book — but its roots go back much further.
More than ten years ago, I adopted JJ from the Humane Society of Camden County. When I later returned with JJ and the completed Book 6, How Serena Met JJ, JJ remembered the shelter. As we approached the building, he recognized it immediately. He stopped. He didn’t want to go inside. I had to carry him, and I quietly told him, you are in your forever home, JJ.
While there, I shared the book with the staff. The staff shared photos of the book with the shelter’s board. I later returned with the author’s copy of the book. From the images of the book alone, the board reached out through the staff and offered a partnership and a book signing — an unexpected and deeply meaningful gesture.
When the shelter mentioned the partnership, I immediately thought about how I could help the pets waiting there. The answer didn’t come right away. It came later, when I animated JJ using the Grok app. Through that animation, the partnership became a mock interview showing how JJ and Tank met.
JJ’s story of meeting Tank appears in Book 4 of the series. That story is essential to the origin of Adopt a Heart.
JJ protected his home by sitting on the back of the sofa, looking out the window. One day, while doing that, he spotted what he believed was a threat. The threat, in his mind, was a pit bull. Unbeknownst to JJ’s owner at the time, she opened the front door while the “threat” — a pit bull — was innocently walking by with his owner on the sidewalk.
JJ ran out as fast as he could and bit the perceived threat. After gentle correction and a non-retaliatory reaction from Tank, JJ learned that kindness mattered when meeting new pets. Later, when that same pit bull outgrew his puppy exterior, JJ and his family adopted that pit bull. That pit bull later became known as Tank. JJ and Tank are best friends, now.
This encounter is what the mock interview highlights. The mock interview was presented to the shelter as a demonstration of how the personalities of pets can be conveyed through video. Once I shared the mock interview with the shelter.
I asked one more question:
Which pet has been here the longest — the one who might benefit most from having their heart seen?
That’s when they introduced me to Trooper.
Trooper was shy. Quiet. Easy to overlook.
But his wait mattered.
The mock interview was no longer an idea. It evolved into a way of honoring waiting hearts at the shelter — giving a voice to the quiet pets. The pets who do not come forward. The pets who stand back and watch. The pets who, like JJ, choose the heart they want to help or heal.
Through gentle animation of JJ and Tank — pets children already knew — adopt a heart was adapted in a way that felt calm, respectful, and expressive. The Adopt-a-Heart utilize familiar characters to listen to shelter pets, not speak for them.
In order for the interview to take place on video, I first meet with the people who know the pet. I gather information about the pet’s personality through conversation and observation. I ask how the pet interacts with people and other pets. I ask about the pet’s backstory, fears, triggers, and motivations — whether food, toys, or other stimuli. I ask what calms the pet and what causes stress. I learn about the pet’s energy level, quirks, and any small, funny behaviors. I ask staff what type of home would be most suitable.
All of this happens before I meet the pet.
When I meet the pet, I observe whether they are relaxed, stiff, shy, or wiggly. I watch their reactions to strangers — cautious, excited, or scared. I note eye contact, engagement, and how they respond to praise or treats. I observe whether the pet is comfortable in quiet versus noisy environments. I pay attention to their interactions with staff: trusting, clingy, or aloof. I observe curiosity or hesitation in new surroundings. I notice vocalizations — barks, whines, sighs — and tail movement.
All of these observations are what I use to develop the personality of the pet for the animation that follows.
Adopt a Heart was created to honor that waiting — not to rush it, explain it, or turn it into content — but to witness it, and to make sure it wasn’t forgotten.
Trooper became the first heart the Forest sat with.
Trooper’s Adoption Update
Trooper has since been adopted and is now with his forever family.
His story remains the beginning of Adopt-a-Heart because it showed what this initiative could become: a way to slow down, notice a quiet pet, and use storytelling to help others see the heart behind the photo.
Adopt-a-Heart Has Grown
Since Trooper’s story, Adopt-a-Heart has continued to grow through rescue-pet storytelling and community connections.
At Woofstock in Ellijay, Georgia, additional rescue stories became part of the Adopt-a-Heart journey, including Murray, Jayden, and a rescued Rottweiler who later became a therapy dog.
Each of these pets has found a forever family.
Their stories show that Adopt-a-Heart is not only about helping pets while they wait. It is also about honoring what happens after someone sees them, chooses them, and gives them the chance to heal.
Murray
Murray’s story reminds children that healing can take time. His journey reflects patience, care, and the power of being given another chance.
Jayden
Jayden’s story adds another voice to Adopt-a-Heart — a reminder that every rescue pet carries a personality, a past, and the possibility of belonging.
A Rescued Rottweiler
One rescued Rottweiler from the Ellijay humane society went on to become a therapy dog. This story shows how love, safety, and care can help an animal not only heal, but also bring comfort to others.
Members of the community are invited to share short stories inspired by connection, care, and emotional experiences. Selected stories are included in a mini zine created to support local shelter outreach and encourage empathy through shared experience.
Listening Before Speaking
Before any heart is introduced, the Forest listens.
These moments are not interviews in the traditional sense.
They are quiet exchanges — a way for familiar voices to sit with a waiting heart, without asking it to perform or explain itself
From Real Life to the Forest
The Mock Interview That Started Adopt-a-Heart
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Nje0PPoFI0U?si=fRTQZMdRkirvEVuO&controls=0
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/BKB6I_XAkr4?si=ba6rHSbDO9UCcPfb&controls=0
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Hx7b93Entf4?si=yhJy_5Dxjg9BCZDG&controls=0
Trooper — The First Adopt a Heart
From Real Life to the Forest
Witnessed through presence and observation
- Real Trooper
A real photo of Trooper, the shelter dog whose quiet presence became the first Adopt-a-Heart story. - Animated Trooper
Trooper reimagined through animation after observation, caretaker insight, and story development. - Trooper with Tank and JJ in the Adopt-a-Heart Studio
This animated studio moment shows Trooper alongside Tank and JJ inside the YouTube animated series setting. The scene brought Trooper’s real personality into the MeMe, JJ & Friends storytelling space, helping his story move from shelter observation to animated interview.
Trooper’s story was not created from imagination alone. It began when I met Trooper in person, observed his behavior, and asked questions to better understand his personality through the people caring for him. Those real-life details helped shape how Trooper appeared in the Adopt-a-Heart animated studio.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/1ekbe5-j-0g?si=QYjWY0eSykXpi3lB&controls=0
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/r-fidqXOXtA?si=4y9puOXNk82nMGLr&controls=0
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/gMYdeoxG_rw?si=vRA4-SWQXsKcPdFO&controls=0
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iG41i5sSem4?si=YN_8SDreztM5I45L&controls=0
Campaign Context
Adopt-a-Heart was first shared primarily on TikTok because of how the platform moves.
TikTok is a fast-scrolling space. Attention is brief, and people often move on quickly. If Trooper’s quiet story could encourage someone to pause, stop scrolling, and listen there, it would show that the story itself was strong enough to hold attention without heavy explanation or promotion.
That was the intent.
Trooper’s story was shared quietly and consistently. Viewers stopped. They listened. They stayed. The same story was also shared on Wattpad, where Trooper’s written chapters continued to rotate between first and second position, showing engagement beyond short-form video.
The campaign was never about virality.
It was about testing whether patience, observation, and quiet presence could still be received in spaces designed for speed.
The answer was yes.
Since Trooper, Adopt-a-Heart has grown to include additional rescue-pet stories, including Murray, Jayden, and a rescued Rottweiler from Ellijay whose journey continued into therapy dog work.
Each story continues the same mission: slow down, notice the animal, listen before assuming, and let the story create empathy.
Because when someone slows down in a fast place, they are even more likely to listen elsewhere.
Every child deserves a forest full of friends.
And every rescue pet deserves the chance to be seen as more than a photo, a profile, or a past.
Contact / Participate in Adopt-a-Heart
Adopt-a-Heart welcomes opportunities to connect with families, shelters, humane societies, libraries, schools, community groups, and pet lovers who believe rescue stories can teach empathy, observation, compassion, and care.
You can participate by:
- sharing a short rescue pet story
- submitting a story inspired by connection, care, or an animal who changed your life
- partnering on a shelter, library, or community literacy event
- inviting Adopt-a-Heart to feature a rescue pet story
- supporting the mini zine, animated storytelling, or community outreach efforts
- asking about book orders, character merchandise, or MeMe, JJ & Friends literacy materials
Adopt-a-Heart began by listening to one quiet shelter dog. It continues by making space for more stories to be seen, heard, and remembered.
For Adopt-a-Heart participation, story submissions, community partnerships, or rescue-pet storytelling inquiries, please contact:
memejjandfriends@gmail.com
Share a Rescue Pet Story
Do you have a pet story about rescue, adoption, healing, connection, or an animal who changed your life? Adopt-a-Heart invites short story submissions that may be used for community storytelling, mini zines, shelter outreach, website features, or social media.
Selected stories may be edited for clarity, length, and formatting before sharing.
This helps us understand how to frame the story respectfully.