Our Pack
Our Founder, Molly Goldston
Molly Goldston is a native of the Wake Forest/Raleigh area. Always driven by a strong love and respect for animals, she began working in the Animal Welfare realm in North Carolina after graduating college in 2000.
Through shelter work, Molly observed the seemingly never-ending number of unwanted pets, countless euthanasia, and the critical urgency for deserving animals to be saved. She also recognized there were loving homes in the area that were looking for a family pet and interested in adopting. Molly sought to create a space where both dogs and humans alike felt more comfortable and at home, minimizing the stress of meetings in a standard shelter setting. Molly understood the need to bring unwanted animals together with these families in such a place, however, it would require setting up housing, vetting (as these animals came with no prior care), and adoption program. From this vision, the Saving Grace organization was founded in 2004.
Saving Grace Animals for Adoption began on a long-time, family-owned farm, located in Wake County. While Molly wears many hats within her program, one of her main roles is working with over 20 counties in the Carolinas, bringing dogs weekly from rural area shelters. Once here, the dogs receive much needed care in order to find a forever home. Molly personally visits these shelters and works one on one with the shelter staff to address their needs and interacts with the animals to determine who will make the best family pets.
More About Molly
Throughout her career, Molly has invested a significant amount of time training in animal care, both medical and behavioral, to help best assess dogs’ needs in these areas. This is imperative to choosing dogs and make lasting forever matches.
Many dogs come to Saving Grace with severe neglect and trauma. Molly has fostered partnerships with many clinics, shelters, and teaching hospitals to assist SG in caring for these animals. She has built and maintains an incredible group of volunteers that make day to day care possible, a growing team of foster homes, as well as an amazing group of followers and sponsors that make adoption possible for many that would otherwise not have these options.
Molly has tremendous pride in the organization she’s built from the ground up. For her it’s more than a job, it’s a lifestyle. Anyone who knows her, knows she works from the time the rooster crows (quite literally here on the farm) to sundown because the work is never done. Molly’s hard work and dedication can be seen in her recent accomplishments. She has expanded Saving Grace’s reach through the establishment of our Saving Grace Supply Company store and online shop. All the proceeds from the stores go back into the Saving Grace rescue program. She has also fulfilled a long-time dream of having an onsite spay/neuter clinic here at Saving Grace. This provides one more resource for the animals to receive necessary veterinary care once in the program. Most recently, Molly has started a sister location, Saving Grace Dog Rescue Robeson County, and hopes it will help to reduce the incredibly high euthanasia rates in that area.
With her passion and tireless dedication to animal welfare and focus on underserved communities and outreach programs throughout the Carolinas, Saving Grace will continue to be a haven to dogs for many years to come.
Our Amazing Staff
Michael Bullock
Manager, Saving Grace Supply Co.
Michael came to Saving Grace in 2017 where he began doing shift work caring for the animals. Taking care of the animals and their needs gave him a deeper understanding of the dogs and the Saving Grace process.
About a year later he moved over as an Adoption Counselor. With his welcoming personality and passion for animal welfare he was a natural fit.
Like many SG volunteers Michael had a wealth of talent in another realm that came to light when plans for the Supply Company were underway. For years prior to moving to NC he worked in retail. His vast knowledge of merchandising and how to run a retail shop, combined with his extensive dog experience made him the obvious choice to run the Saving Grace Supply Company.
Michael stands at the ready to help you with ALL your pet needs.
Whether you’re a new, first-time or seasoned animal owner he can assist you with just about anything. His knowledge of SG operations gives him a leg-up on helping customers meet expectations and ease through the transition of taking their shelter pet home. Young dog, senior dog, shelter dog or breeder dog, they are all our family members and he is ready to help you best care for them and of course spoil them too.
Michael can talk you through just about any behavior or situation when it comes to transitioning a new pup into your home. He will expertly fit your collar or harness, advise you on the proper size crate, food and more.
Michael serves as an outstanding extension of SG and we are oh so lucky to have him.
Dr. Eric Ethridge
Dr. Eric graduated from University of Florida with a degree in Zoology in 1996. In 2002, Eric received his degree in Veterinary Medicine from University of Tennessee. He has special interests in spay and neuter and international spay and neuter.
He moved to North Carolina in 2019 and lives with his wife Lydia and daughter Zoey, Socks the cat, Monty the Pomeranian and Knox a grease ball terrier.
Eric loves to surf, play guitar, read, snowboards and hang out with his family.
Meghan Flaherty
Adoptions Manager
If we had a dollar for every dog Meghan has seen through our program, we’d be rich! To be honest, we are rich having this talented and dedicated woman lead our Adoption Team.
Meghan came to Saving Grace in 2005. She had previously been working in the corporate sector but gave into her passion for a more creative outlet.
In the beginning Meghan was volunteering on shift and providing dog training. Molly recognized her talent and put her to work helping with adoptions several afternoons a week.
As she took on more and more responsibilities and Saving Grace continued to grow, one thing led to another and Meghan went full-time.
It is pretty impossible to list everything Meghan does but overseeing medical care for the SG Pack, managing heartworm treatments, ensuring all our dogs are ready for adoption, communicating with adopters, taking home fosters, just scratches the surface.
Meghan works countless hours and spends a lot of time observing the dogs. She does not set SG dogs up for failure. If a dog is not a good fit for a person or family, she tells them. Her goal is to ensure a forever match. Sometimes that takes time and more than one appointment but that’s the way she rolls.
With Meghan’s consult many adopters leave with the dog they need and not the one they came for. She is a strong advocate for SG dogs and is a true champion for the rescue world. We are so thankful she followed her heart many moons ago and look forward to many more happily endings for deserving dogs with Meghan leading the way.
Brie Hile-Hoffer
As the newest member of the Adoptions Pack, Brie has taken her 20 years of educational experience (the last 9 in administration) and shifted it to another type of non-profit. She has volunteered for the last 3 years in almost every capacity of Saving Grace and started with us part-time in January 2021.
Brie oversees the Adoption’s Team scheduling, recruiting and training. She also assists other teams on site with updating process and recruiting and has been working hard to help rebuild the volunteer network after COVID. Also highly organized, she has helped launch the new ShelterLuv database system with the other team leads and helped bring new processes to help the Adoptions program run more efficiently.
A true team player, Brie is a friendly face on site and is another valuable recourse to any volunteer or potential adopter. She manages and partners with the team for every part the adoption process from start to finish: processing adoption requests, making appointments for potential adopters, partnering with counselors, assisting with checkout and is usually one of the last friendly faces an adopter sees when finalizing their adoption.
Brie has 3 Saving Grace alums of her own and has also fostered many dogs and puppies for Saving Grace. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to the beaches and mountains of NC, cooking and reading.
Crystal Tippett
Administrator
Crystal is relatively new to Saving Grace, having joined our pack in 2020. Her primary role is keeping the books, managing accounts payable, the finances, insurance and more.
While these are very important responsibilities, and a lot of work yet Crystal will dive head-first into adoptions, transports or any critical needed role at Saving Grace. Without any hesitation she helps however she can. She also steps in to work at the Supply Co. when Michael needs a day off.
While Crystal is “new” to SG she and Molly have been friends for a very long time, so she had a deep understanding of the work and mission. While Crystal had a longstanding career in finance with other companies, she was looking for something more.
She made a deliberate decision to work for a company or organization making a difference in this world. Saving Grace seemed like the perfect fit. Crystal brings a wonderful balance to SG and we are so fortunate to have her in place to keep our finances, and us, in order.
Heather Wanczyk
Jill of All Trades
Heather is truly a Saving Grace “Jill of all Trades”. She began in 2017 working shift and quickly moved to a part-timer helping to oversee maintenance and general upkeep on the farm and the resident animals.
When the pandemic hit Heather moved to full-time and stepped up her game filling in for those unable to continue volunteering or working at Saving Grace.
She is a self-starting creative overseeing the creation of the SG online store and filling the orders. A long-time vision of Molly’s came to fruition under her careful supervision and now people all over the country can order SG merchandise to represent and support the mission.
Heather serves as Molly’s right-hand person, keeping her on track and assisting with the countless things that pop-up each day, not uncommon in the world of rescue. If that’s not enough she helps with organizing merchandise at the Saving Grace Supply Co. and offsite retail. She is a little bit of everything to everyone and we’d be pretty lost without her.
Sue Zgoda
Veterinary Technician
Sue came to North Carolina by way of New York where she attended Harcum College in Animal Health. She is a seasoned pro having worked in the veterinary field for 30 plus years. Sue is proud to be a registered Veterinary Technician and has the professional background to prove it.
Sue is a loving Cat Mom to Cubs, Cosmo, Newman, Sammy and Jerry. In her free-time she enjoys hiking, kayaking and spending time with her kids.
