Rescue, Rehabilitation, Adoption, Education
FPR Officers, Coordinators & Managers
Florida Parrot Rescue is an all volunteer run organization, and that includes not only our fosters, but our officers as well. Most of our officers hold full time jobs and have families to care for in addition to volunteering for the rescue, so this is one dedicated (and multi-tasking) group of people!
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Jen U – President, Director and Founder Jen U. is the President, Director and one of the founders of Florida Parrot Rescue. She not only holds a full time job managing a local veterinary practice, but she also is happily married with 2 children and flock of her own (consisting of dogs, cats and an African Grey Parrot). Her responsibilities include fundraising, recruiting, communicating with potential adopters and fosters, helping at community events, speaking with the media and managing the rest of the officers. |
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Jen V – East Coast Senior Vice President Jen V. is the East Coast Senior Vice President for Florida Parrot Rescue. She has been a part of FPR from the beginning and worked her way up to the position of Vice President by consistently establishing new territory and effectively managing the team she has assembled. In her current role she focuses on recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers as well as establishing guidelines, outlining and defining and enforcing policies, creating fundraising opportunities, establishing partnerships with local companies, seeking sponsors, communicating with adopters, potential foster homes, and people surrendering a pet, etc., ensuring customer service as well as animal safety, schedule and lead public appearances, “meet & greet” events, and presentations, etc. She began her life-long love of birds as a child when her mother brought home a pair of cockatiels to adore. Since then, she has worked with cockatiels, parakeets, parrotlets, lovebirds, conures, quakers, cockatoos, macaws, etc. and has learned to love and admire the many different qualities and personality traits companion parrots have to offer. She also works full time and with her family, volunteers in her community and at church as often as possible. She shares her life with her husband, Caleb, and her two daughters, Elizabeth & Sydne as well as her rescued family members, Daisy (Goffin), Tequilla (B&G macaw), Lelah (disabled cockatiel), Ozzy (Nanday Conure), Tiger (large mixed dog), Manny (Lhasa Apso), Stormy (Persian kitty), Wolfie (Calico kitty) & Alice (Munchkin kitty). |
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Karen A – West Coast Senior Vice President and South Florida Foster Coordinator Karen is responsible for coordinating birds that need to come into rescue in south Florida as well as coordinating and working community events, communications with her fosters, recruitment of fosters, establishing guidelines and policies and writing the FPR newsletter. She is also Mom to 4 human children (all girls, ranging in age from 6 to 23) and several animal children (dogs, cats, ferrets and of course parrots, all rescues!) and has been happily married since 1997. She also fosters for the rescue (and can give you information on co-habiting multiple species of companion animals and children) and is experienced with Parrotlets, Lovebirds, Cockatiels, Conures, Eclectus, small Cockatoos and Mini Macaws. Karen also volunteers for the Humane Society in Tampa where she walks dogs, socializes cats and helps with adoptions, and in the past has volunteered with various other organizations, including Save Our Seabirds in Sarasota, Cat Call in Brandon and the SPCA in Largo/Clearwater. |
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Cora C – North Florida Foster Coordinator Cora is the foster coordinator for north Florida and has been with Florida Parrot Rescue since 2008. Cora is tasked with the responsibility to communicate with her fosters and coordinate the intake of birds in her area as well as organizing community events. She is a retired police officer, transplanted from New Jersey. Cora has experience with large parrots and a focus on cockatoos plus rottweilers. Rottweilers have been a huge part of her life along with cockatoos and Cora is considered our resident “cockatoo expert”! Among the many other topics relating to bird parenting she is available to discuss the “need to know” safety issues surrounding parrots cohabiting with dogs. Cora’s family consists of one human, Aileen, Rudi-Ellen (rottweiler), Oscar (boxer) and “Garret the Parrot” and Miss Clarence (Umbrella cockatoos). Cora also fosters for the rescue and is most experienced with the larger species of birds including macaws. |
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Christy H - Central West Florida Foster Coordinator Christy is the West Central Florida Foster Coordinator and has been with the rescue since 2008. She fosters small, medium and large birds and is responsible for recruiting fosters, coordinating the intake of birds into rescue in her area and communicating with her fosters. She also helps other fosters trim wings and cut nails. Christy has been married since 1994 and has one daughter. She is also mom to an English Bull dog, 2 Maine Coon Cats and 1 B&G Macaw. All of her animals are rescues. Besides volunteering for the rescue, she also does childcare in her home full time. Christy is most experienced with African Greys and large Macaws. |
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Lorry B - Adoption Coordinator Lorry is the Florida Parrot Rescue Coordinator and has been with the rescue since 2010. She fosters small, medium and large birds and is responsible for recruiting adopters and processing adoption applications. Lorry has always been a “Don’t Shop, Adopt” advocate. When she realized there were rescues for parrots it seemed natural for her to put her passion for birds and for adoption to good use as a volunteer. Her husband, Chris, is also her partner in crime. She loves all parrots, large and small, but her heart especially belongs to cockatoos. She particularly loves the challenge of working with the wounded souls and the special needs birds and she shares her home with a number of them, both personal pets and FPR fosters.
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Colleen L – Social Media Manager Colleen joined Florida Parrot Rescue in January 2011. Colleen’s role of social media manager includes updating Facebook and Twitter. She also helps out with the FPR website as needed. Colleen became a bird lover at age five when her family adopted a Cockatiel named Paco. Since then, she has owned or worked with many different species of birds, including Quakers, Amazons, African Greys, Macaws, and Cockatoos. Colleen is married with four children. She is owned by her Umbrella Cockatoo, Lyric. Her family also owns a Weimaraner, and a Quaker named Bubbie who was a rescue from FPR. |
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Sherry L – Fundraising Chair Sherry has had a life-long love of animals starting from her earliest memories of being on her grandparent’s 50 acre farm in Pennsylvania and grew up with a dog “Yogi” and a cockatiel named “Mischief” that her brother rescued. Sherry is married to her husband, Ron (20 years) and they have two children, Ben and Sarah (15 and 10). Their non-human children consist of Sandy (collie), Frankie (spaniel mix), Rio (mustache parakeet), Tori (quaker), Sunshine (Cockatiel), KC and Sunshine (Cockatiels) and Chip and Cookie (gerbils) all of which have been adopted from various shelters or rescue groups. Sherry owns her own travel agency and when she is not busy with that, she is volunteering at her children’s schools or at events around the community. |
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Jennifer S – Database and Petfinder Administrator and Central East Florida Foster Coordinator Jennifer S. joined Florida Parrot Rescue in June 2009 with her husband Mike, to foster birds and volunteer for events. Jennifer’s role as FPR Database Administrator was created as it became necessary with the growth in volunteers and the larger numbers of fosters coming into the rescue. Jennifer also updates and maintains the websites Petfinder.com and AdoptAPet.com for Florida Parrot Rescue and has now also taken on the role of Central East Florida Foster Coordinator. Jennifer and Mike are owned by their feathered kids: Julie the Senegal, Lois the lovebird, Charlie the Quaker, TJ the cockatiel, Petey & Penny (cockatiels) and the fosters that have come and moved on to forever homes. Jennifer grew up with birds and animals in the household. Her curiosity of birds started to develop when her mom brought home Snafu the Cockatiel when Jennifer was 10 years. Mike knew very little of parrots until he met Jennifer and now he can hold his own when asked questions. Jennifer and Mike have regular full time jobs outside, but like many FPR members, we wish our only jobs were to help the rescue full time! |
To see how the state of Florida is split into foster coordinator regions, click on the link below:
Florida Parrot Rescue Foster Coordinator Regions
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