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April/May 2024 | maconmagazine.com 113 STORY BY JAMI GAUDET | PHOTOS BY JESSICA WHITLEY Unleashing healthcare S he was a born pet lover with a heart for people, the little girl who preferred stuffed animals to dolls and relished spending Saturdays searching for lost dogs and picking up trash. With a sunny disposition and dogged determination, she built careers — first, in public policy for California Governor Gray Davis, then, as a nurse practitioner and physician assistant, and since 2018, as founder and president of People and Pets Project, an innovative non-profit providing "safe, welcoming, healthcare for both ends of the leash." Janet Hendrickson couldn't have landed in a better place than Macon to meld her healthcare savvy and ardor for four-legged creatures. Macon's animal shelter remains full, necessitating euthanasia for population control despite the unwavering efforts of Macon-Bibb Animal Services; its offshoot, Bondable Pups; and a constellation of local rescue groups that champion the cause of dogs and cats. People in Macon love their pets, and People and Pets helps them stay healthy. BEGINNING AGAIN IN MACON Terrible luck and serendipity brought Janet and her husband, Dr. Henry (Hank) Schwartz, a physician and Air Force reservist, to Macon. On October 8, 2017, Janet and Hank lost everything. California's Tubbs Fire, the Golden State's most destructive and expensive inferno ever, claimed 22 lives and 4,600 homes, including theirs, along with their three goats and six chickens. Miraculously, the couple and their four dogs escaped the flames and cheated death. Janet recalls no warning or hint their area was in danger. But inexplicably, she awoke in the middle of the night, peered out their bedroom window, and saw the next ridge ablaze. She, Hank, and their dogs fled. Two years after the disaster, Janet, a go-getter with a B.S. and master's in nursing and B.A. in journalism and public relations, launched the People and Pets Project (PPP) in Sacramento, California, where she, Hank, and their menagerie resettled after the fire. Fate intervened again in 2019. The military offered Hank an opportunity as Deputy Division Chief, Aerospace and Operational Medicine at Headquarters Air Force Reserve at Robins Air Force Base — and then the pandemic struck. "A few months after I arrived, COVID-19 hit, which was a great opportunity to meet people." If it sounds counter-intuitive that anyone would perceive the pandemic as an opportunity to foster relationships, they don't know Janet, who says earnestly, "We were lucky. We made great friends early on in Macon," quipping, "but it had to be six feet apart." Unexpectedly, during those early months, the couple fell hard for Macon, deciding to make it their permanent home. Janet jokes, "You're stuck with us." But while Janet and Hank's social life blossomed during COVID, her attempt to launch People and Pets stalled. Undeterred, after spying more than 30 cats roaming around Columbus Avenue behind the Bear's Den restaurant, Janet pivoted to reducing Middle Georgia's feral cat population with her first local LEFT Six of the 44 people and five of the 53 pets who received healthcare at the February 2024 People and Pets clinic at the Macon-Bibb County Health Department. BELOW RIGHT From left to right, Hank, Janet, and their four dogs: Maggie, Fletcher, Lucy, and Winston. P E O P L E & P E T S