How It All Began

How Heaven for Paws Began

“Every story begins with something we don’t fully understand at first… My journey began in silence, long before I knew what was happening inside me. It didn’t start with a plan. It started with a feeling — and one soul on the screen."

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How It All Began

My story did not begin with a plan. It began with a feeling I could not explain.

For a long time, I lived inside a quiet tension. My body stayed tight, my words grew fewer, and my nervous system never really rested.

I thought something was wrong with me. I didn’t know that much of what I felt was not actually mine.

Over time, I noticed something: I felt animals more deeply than I felt humans.

Their hunger, their cold, their loneliness, their silent fear— sometimes even the terror before death— all of it echoed through my own body.

Slowly, a quiet recognition appeared:
“This pain is not only mine. These are the lives of animals, moving through me.”

My body was listening on their behalf. Their bodies could not speak, but my body could feel.

Meeting the Shelters

Everything began to make sense when I connected with animal shelters.

The animals there had no masks or roles— only presence and quiet endurance.

Their energy told my nervous system:
“Here, you are safe. Here, it is okay to speak again.”

After meeting them, I slowly began to talk again. My voice returned one breath at a time.

Sharing My Food, Sharing My Heart

During this time, a simple question kept visiting me:
“Are they hungry tonight?” “Are they cold right now?”

I began reducing my own food costs— cutting little pieces from my daily life— and turning those pieces into support for animals.

Over the month, these small choices added up to about $160 spread across many moments, many shelters, many lives.

It wasn’t a big amount. But each donation carried the same wish:
“I hope you aren’t hungry.” “I hope you have warmth tonight.” “I hope you feel that someone sees you.”

And something beautiful happened:
Small money made a real difference.

I realized compassion doesn’t require wealth— only willingness.

Humans have coats, heating, houses, and words. Animals face winter with only their small bodies and their quiet courage.

When I felt cold, I understood their winter. When I felt hunger, I understood their hunger. The ache in me was the same ache in them.

Remembering Who I Am

Looking back, even the strange pieces make sense now— like why I stopped cutting my nails and hair for months.

My body was tuning itself to the frequency of animals— opening my senses to their world.

One by one, shelters appeared. Animals found me. They spoke through trembling, temperature, and quiet pain.

Heaven for Paws was not something I “created.” It was something the animals asked for. They could not build a sanctuary for themselves— so they built it through me.

This is how it all began— with confusion, tension, years of not knowing, and then a sudden clarity as the entire puzzle finally came together.

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For a long time, I felt the call to help, but I didn’t know how. I saw donation buttons, rescue ads, and campaigns everywhere, yet something in me hesitated.

Like many people, I wondered:

  • “Will my money really reach the animals who need it?”
  • “Is this just another system, or a real lifeline?”
  • “How can I help if I don’t have enough to adopt or sponsor on my own?”

The desire to help was real. The path was not clear yet.

The First Soul Who Spoke

One day, while scrolling through shelter videos, a single dog appeared on my screen.

Her name was later felt as 윤희 (Yoonhee) — a dog with clear eyes, soft energy, and a presence that felt different from others.

다른 아이들을 볼 때는 안쓰러운 마음, 걱정, 슬픔이 먼저 올라왔지만 윤희를 볼 때는 이상하게도 맑음, 투명함, ‘대표로 서 있는 느낌’이 느껴졌습니다.

It was as if she was saying:
“Through me, you can hear all of us.”

That was the moment Heaven for Paws quietly began — not as a project, but as a response to a soul calling out.

Meeting the Ones in Critical Need

Soon after, I saw another dog — a newly rescued soul, so thin that only skin and bones remained.

It was hard to look, but I couldn’t look away. This soul represented all animals who arrive at shelters in this condition: starving, exhausted, but still holding on.

In that moment, it became clear:
“Some souls are here to show us how urgent the situation really is.”

A small donation was sent. And with it, a new promise formed in the heart: “I will keep listening to the ones who call me.”

When the Horses Appeared

I thought this journey would stay with dogs and cats. But then, another world opened — the world of rescued horses.

A video appeared of a horse sanctuary caring for many rescues at once. Among them, one particular horse stood out: a gentle presence that stayed with me through the night.

That night, I slept with the horse video playing beside me. It felt like a silent conversation — as if this horse was saying:
“We are here too. Don’t forget us.”

From there, the vision expanded into what is now called the Horsesource Division — a branch of Heaven for Paws that remembers the larger, quieter beings who also need care.

From Hesitation to Clarity

As I visited more shelters and watched more stories, a pattern became clear:

  • Many shelters are doing their best with very limited resources.
  • Many people want to help, but don’t always trust where their money goes.
  • Most of all, the animals themselves needed to be seen, not just counted.

Heaven for Paws was born from this bridge:
between people who want to help, and souls who are waiting to be seen, fed, and protected.

It is not a big organization. It is a light project — a living intention — moving through one heart, one soul, one act of care at a time.

This Is Our Beginning, Not the End

Heaven for Paws began with simple moments:

  • Looking into the eyes of a dog who felt like a representative.
  • Feeling the shock and grief of seeing a body that was too thin to ignore.
  • Watching horses in a sanctuary and realizing how wide this mission truly is.

From these moments, the intention crystallized:
“I will let the souls guide where support flows.”

This page is a memory of how it started — and an invitation to walk forward together.

Where the Story Continues

If your heart is moved by this beginning, there are many ways to step into the story:

However you choose to join, thank you for listening to the quiet voices of Heaven for Paws.

“When we listen to one soul, we remember that none of them are alone.”

Heaven for Paws • A SourceIAM Light Project • 2025 Global Light Movement