Rachel Foster

Rachel Foster has been dedicated to fighting injustice for over 30 years. She has been an advocate at the Tompkins County Task Force for Battered Women and Sanctuary for Families, a community organizer at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, and an attorney and board officer at Brooklyn Legal Services, as well as a board member of the Citizens Committee for Children, Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, and Community Board Two. In 2012, Rachel received the New Yorkers Who Make a Difference Award from United Neighborhood Houses for her work representing disenfranchised New Yorkers and, in 2018, she was honored by the Coalition Against Trafficking Against Women. Rachel built the first ground up domestic violence shelter in the country, with apartments housing over 100 survivors, that allows families to exist abusive situations with their beloved pets. She also developed a transitional family shelter in Brooklyn with 165 apartments, housing over 500 individuals. In 2016, she co-founded the Brooklyn Cat Cafe, a not-for-profit volunteer based animal shelter, adoption center, and community space, that has had over 75,000 visitors and nearly 3,000 adoptions.