Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Awards Grants to Two New Pet Shelters

Miranda Lambert's Muttnation Foundation is putting a sizeable grant award behind two newly-launched animal shelter projects in Tennessee.

The new initiative, called the Miranda Lambert New Shelter Grant, aims to advance and support organizations for shelter pets that are just getting off the ground. Most recently, the grant was awarded to two deserving organizations in Tennessee: Crossroads Campus and Wags & Walks.

"So many great people were there for me when I was getting started, people who believed in what I was doing, and it just meant so much to me," Lambert explains in a statement.

"...I know how much passion and hard work goes into it — it starts as a dream and the work is rewarding ... and endless," she continues. "I have so much respect for the people who make it happen."

Located in the Nashville area, Crossroads Campus matches shelter pets who are at risk for euthanasia with qualifying young adults who face barriers to employment and housing. The young people — including many who have aged out of the foster care system — live on the organization's North Nashville grounds and pay rent based on their income as they care for the shelter pets.

Crossroads Campus has a country music connection: Emmylou Harris is on the board of directors, and was on hand for a photo op when Lambert presented the organization with a $50,000 grant from Muttnation.

The other receiving organization, Wags & Walks, is an adoption center with locations in Nashville and Los Angeles. It focuses on providing support for wrongly stereotyped breeds like pit bulls, as well as dogs with medical needs and mother dogs with puppies who are often at risk due to overcrowded conditions.

Lambert and her mother, Bev Lambert, founded MuttNation in 2009 over their mutual passion for supporting shelter pets.