Meet Our Team

Co-Founder & Rescue Director

Georgia Dodson

Georgia Dodson is the driving force behind Miri's Haven's day-to-day rescue work and the person who makes the impossible happen every day. As Co-Founder and Director, she wears more hats than anyone can count—rescue coordinator, medical advocate, foster support system, transport organizer, fundraiser, problem solver, dog wrangler, and often the first person to welcome a frightened senior dog to safety.

Georgia is the one making the phone calls, coordinating the care, handling the crises, celebrating the victories, and doing whatever needs to be done to give another dog a second chance. Whether she's negotiating a rescue, scheduling a specialist appointment, or giving a newly arrived senior a "budget bath" to wash away the past and help them start fresh, Georgia approaches every dog with compassion, patience, and love.

At home, Georgia and her partner, Marcus, share their lives with the Miri's Haven HQ dogs, their resident cat Billy, and a rotating cast of small mammal fosters from the local county shelter. She also works full-time in nonprofit finance, where the skills and experience she has developed have helped build the systems, structure, and financial foundation that have allowed Miri's Haven to grow and thrive.

Georgia's compassion, determination, humor, and unwavering belief that every senior dog matters have transformed countless lives—both canine and human. As a co-founder, Georgia works around the clock behind the scenes to transform Miri's Haven's vision into action, ensuring every dog who comes through our doors has the opportunity to find safety, healing, dignity, and love.

Georgia is pictured with Oswald, affectionately known as the "Business Dog," who accompanies her to work and just about everywhere else, making friends wherever he goes and often recognized as a local celebrity. A proud Miri's Haven alumnus, Oswald was found as a stray in Fredericksburg before finding his forever home at the Haven.

Co-Founder & Social Media Director

Jade Connor

Jade Connor is the storyteller behind Miri's Haven and the voice responsible for introducing over 700 Miri's Haven senior dogs to the world. As Co-Founder and Social Media Director, she has cultivated an extraordinary following and a deeply connected community that spans the globe.

Equal parts hilarious and heartfelt, her posts regularly make people laugh, cry, and become deeply invested in the lives of dogs they may never meet. Her humor, creativity, and uncanny ability to capture personality have even helped certain dogs develop devoted fan clubs and cult followings of their own.

A fierce advocate for animals and people alike, Jade is driven by a deep belief that every life deserves compassion and the opportunity to thrive. A small business owner, artist, and writer, she brings creativity, vision, and heart to everything she does. Family is at the center of her life, and she is deeply committed to making the world a kinder, more informed place through education, advocacy, and meaningful action.

Through Jade's words, our dogs are seen, given a voice, and remembered long after their time has passed. Her remarkable ability to capture each dog's resilience, quirks, and worth helps people see far beyond age, medical needs, or circumstance. Her passion for storytelling and community outreach has been instrumental in growing Miri's Haven and connecting countless dogs with the people who will love them. Her storytelling has touched and inspired people across the country and around the world, turning followers into donors, fosters, volunteers, adopters, and lifelong champions for senior dogs.

Adoption & Application Coordinator

Stephanie Harmon

Stephanie Harmon is the person behind nearly every adoption and foster placement at Miri's Haven, helping connect hundreds of senior dogs with the families who will love them. Since the very beginning of Miri's Haven, she has been the steady hand guiding applicants through the adoption and foster process, reviewing applications, conducting interviews, checking references, and ensuring every placement is set up for success.

Behind the scenes, Stephanie has processed well over 1,000 applications for Miri's Haven alone. She has made thousands of phone calls, sent countless emails, and filled more notebooks than anyone could reasonably keep track of—all in service of finding the right match for every dog and every family. Her patience, kindness, attention to detail, and unwavering dedication have helped build a process that is both thorough and compassionate.

For most prospective adopters and fosters, Stephanie is their very first conversation with Miri's Haven. Whether she's learning about a family's home, helping an applicant find the right fit, or answering questions about the rescue process, she approaches every interaction with warmth, care, and genuine curiosity. Together with her husband, Joe, who contributes graphics, woodworking projects, and creative support for the rescue, Stephanie has been pivotal to shaping the community that makes Miri's Haven possible. When a senior dog finds the family that will love and cherish them for the rest of their days, there's a good chance Stephanie helped make that happy ending possible.

A retired teaching assistant, Stephanie still teaches four-year-olds at her church each Sunday and treasures spending time with her three elementary-aged grandchildren, who live nearby. She believes dogs are one of God's greatest creations—a belief that shines through in everything she does for Miri's Haven. Stephanie is pictured with Roxxie, her very first foster hospice dog, an owner surrender who arrived with two bullets still in her body. Though expected to live only six months, Roxxie spent 22 cherished months surrounded by love.