A woman and her two therapy cats are bringing some joy to nursing home and rehabilitation center residents as part of a Grove City church's outreach ministry.

Elaine Zalewski is also putting some miles on her cars' odometer as she and her cats visit 27 facilities in Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, Crawford, Clarion and three facilities in Butler County, the VA Medical Center, the Lutheran Passavant Retirement Community in Zelienople and the Transitions Healthcare Autumn Grove Care Center in Harrisville.

“This is my job. I am on disability, so I do this full time,” said Zalewski. “We're out five to six days a week, generally making two visits a day, mostly to nursing or personal care homes.”

“I average 25,000 miles a year. We cover an area from Titusville to Zelienople, from Clarion to the state line.”

Zalewski travels with 13-year-old Marbles, a Maine Coon cat and 2-year-old Autumn, a Siberian she rescued from an Ohio animal shelter. The cats ride in a stroller.

“When we get to a shelter we do a meet-and-greet,” she said. “The residents pet the girls, and I sit and chat with them.

“On occasion, patients will ask me for a prayer and I will pray with them, but most just need someone to talk to,” she said.

“And these girls,” she said pointing to the cats, “just make themselves at home. They love being petted and fussed over.”

Zalewski said she started taking Marbles, who doubles as a service cat who alerts Zalewski when her blood sugar is low, to homes eight years ago.

“We started with the Episcopal Church,” she said. “I've been a longtime member of the Church of the Epiphany.

“I was doing this freelance and my pastor, the Rev. Geoff Wild, asked me to do it as a church outreach.” That's how Furry Agape Pet Therapy got started.

Wild said, “We are helping to fund the project as an outreach of the church in terms of paying gas mileage and advertising pet therapy.”

Word of her and the cats' visits spread.

“About half my visits have come from word of mouth, where one home recommends me to another one or one staff member goes to another home and they will call me to start at that home then,” she said.

During each visit, that lasts from an hour to 90 minutes, Marbles and Autumn are petted and pampered and Zalewski listens and prays with the residents.

A little attention works wonders, she said.

“People are put in a home, and their family forgets about them,” said Zalewski.

“I can understand if it was dementia. But a lot of times their physical health is breaking down. Their family forgets about them. They don't see them on major holidays, let alone on a daily basis,” she said.

Lisa Trepasso, the activities director at Transitions Healthcare Autumn Grove Care Center, 555 S Main St, Harrisville, said, “I know she comes religiously to see the residents. The residents want to see her cats. They are really happy when they come.”

Trepasso said, “She goes up and down the hall with the cats in a stroller. It's amazing. I've never seen cats trained like that.”

Trepasso said Zalewski and her cats visit the long-term facility housing 90 residents about once a month.

Visits from Autumn and Marbles help fight anxiety and depression in the elderly, she said.

“They give a big boost to mental health which is often neglected by medicine. They think anxiety and depression are a normal part of the aging process rather than something to be treated,” she said.

And so Zalewski is on the road from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week making therapy calls with her cats.

“I don't get paid for it. Some centers will give me gas money,” she said.

Her pet therapy began by accident years ago when she had Marbles entered at the Allentown cat show.

“There was an autistic boy there having a meltdown. I asked him if he wanted to pet Marbles and he calmed right down,” she said.

It took a year to train Marbles to be accustomed to being handled by groups of strangers, a task made easier by the cat's easygoing nature, and become certified as a therapy animal.

Autumn was added to the stroller about 18 months ago when it looked like health issues were going to sideline Marbles. Those issues were later cleared up.

“Us making visits is the nursing home ministry of the church,” she said. “The Diocese of Northwest Pennsylvania has agreed to enhance it and spread it to other churches.”

Wild said, “We are very grateful for her work with the outreach and for her work with the church as well. She prints the church newsletter.”

Speaking of her visits to residents, Zalewski said, “They just want to talk and have someone pay attention. You don't need a lot of preaching.”