Lisa Rogers was taking a break from cleaning the horse stalls on her 32 acre sanctuary when a police officer drove into her property and asked about the founder of Amazing Grace Acres Equine Rescue.
“He said, ‘I’m here to deliver clearance papers to you. I see this all the time,” said Rogers.
Rogers was speechless at the news. Things had gotten tight – she lost her major sources of funding after some of her most generous sponsors died of COVID in Houston – but she was still making payments as often as she could.
“COVID did a lot and I couldn’t pay everything on time,” Rogers said. “But when I had the money, I sent (it.)”
‘ONLY DESTRUCTIVE’: Shelters near critical capacity due to COVID handovers, evictions
Rogers said she was never informed that her home was being sealed off. Her attorney Iris Onassis of Lone Star Legal Aid, a nonprofit agency that provides free legal services to eligible customers, said the home was sold back to the original sellers in an auction that Rogers didn’t know about.
Rogers has until the end of September to move himself and 14 horses, three dogs, three cats and two donkeys to new property before they are evicted. In addition to losing sponsorships and donations due to COVID, she is still recovering financially from the deadly winter frost that left millions of Texans in the dark and without water for days. Rogers still doesn’t have running water in her cabin but has made sure her horses do.
She plans to fight eviction in court and has launched a Go Fund Me to pay for a new property and moving expenses. She is still a long way from her $ 150,000 goal and is unsure of what the future will bring. She collapses at the thought of giving up her horses and possibly giving up on her dream of saving her from depression after a devastating car accident while she was inspecting the city of Houston.
Since news of her upcoming eviction spread, Rogers said she has received offers from across the country to take her horses in.
“I can’t give them away, some of them are children of refuge, they are too old,” said Rogers tearfully. “I can’t do this, it breaks my heart to think about it … this is where they live their lives.”
Lisa Rogers feeds Wildfire, a rescue run by Amazing Grace Acres Equestrian Rescue in Ace, with a snack on Friday, August 20, 2021.
Elizabeth Conley / Employee Photographer
“A reason to keep going”
Rogers was born and raised in Houston. She grew up with her grandparents on a farm in Friendswood, where her love for animals and horses began.
“I started using diapers, OK?” said Roger. “I’ve been riding all the time, going to rodeos and stuff. I’ve always been an animal person since I was a baby.”
She began rescuing horses in 2009 after being forced to quit her job due to medical problems in the car wreck that resulted in seven back surgeries. After helping horses in Houston for a few years, in 2015 she bought her 32-acre sanctuary in Ace, Texas, about an hour and a half from Houston between Cleveland and Livingston. Amazing Grace Acres Equine Rescue received 501c3 status in 2017.
More from Rebecca Hennes: Following national outcry over allegations of abuse, Katy Animal Control made changes. Some say it is not enough.
“These babies gave me a purpose,” said Rogers. “The unconditional love, they gave me a reason to keep going.”
Since its inception, Rogers has rescued 125 horses and adopted 87. Many of the horses are from Houston and have come the long journey from being emaciated and abused to being strong, happy and loved.
“You have to learn to trust and love again, it takes a lot of time and patience,” she said.
Wildfire, a rescue horse at Amazing Grace Acres Equestrian Rescue in Ace on Friday 20th August 2021.Elizabeth Conley / Employee Photographer
Rogers used the funds from the sale of her Houston home to buy the property and has since spent thousands on fences and other buildings on the property, including a barn community, water pipes, and power poles. She estimates she invested over $ 150,000 that she is losing.
“My whole life has been in this property,” she said. “I put blood, sweat and tears into this place.”
Financial struggles
Rogers estimates that a horse’s maintenance, including vet bills and feed, costs at least $ 200 a month. Her disability is currently her main source of income after losing most of her sponsors.
She said she doesn’t make a profit from adoptions because the long process of rehabilitating a horse costs more time and money than she actually earns selling it to a new home.
“It takes about a year for the horse to be rehabilitated or rehabilitated, only it gains weight,” she said. “And the money I get from adoptions goes into feed, hay, farrier, vet, medicine.”
She has a strict adoption process that allows her to check on the horses every 30 days, prevent them from selling them again, and allow them to return to the shelter if they ever need a new home.
Rogers said the pandemic not only reduced sponsorship funds, it also resulted in a noticeable increase in abandoned horses, much like the increase in abandoned and abandoned dogs and cats that have flooded shelters across Houston.
“People haven’t been able to afford them since COVID,” she said. “I’ve seen them in pastures that were only tied to a tree, with no water, no food.”
Several of the horses on her property have been handed over to her by police, she added. If she comes across abandoned horses, she reports them to the police and usually gives them a barrel of hay so they don’t starve to death.
“If I had the money I’d take care of them all, but I can’t,” said Rogers.
Amazing Grace Acres Equestrian Rescue owner Lisa Rogers will feed Rosie, one of her rescue horses, on the property in Ace on Friday, August 20, 2021. Rogers, who bought the 31.74 acres in 2015 for her horse rescue, had fallen in her payments and received an eviction notice.
Elizabeth Conley / Employee Photographer
She planned to hold a fundraiser in October with a silent auction, live performances, and signed guitars and posters.
“But now that the COVID variant is gaining the upper hand, we can’t find a venue,” she said. “We’re running out of time. I have to get these babies moved and change.”
Despite the long road ahead, Rogers hopes for other ventures in the future, including offering therapy rides for people with disabilities and PTSD.
The trial is scheduled for October 4th. Onassis hopes to prove that state property law requirements have not been met and the eviction will be refused, giving Rogers more time before she inevitably has to move.
Until then, Rogers said, she’s taking things “day in, day out,” hoping to find a solution that works best for her and her “babies”.
“This is my life; I love doing what I do and I won’t give up.”
More COVID-19 news
Take a look at our landing page here
