Find Out Who We Are and What We Do
Forever Fortunate Feline’s mission is to save cats from animal control facilities and give them the love and care they deserve in foster homes until they are healthy and ready for adoption. We currently work with animal control facilities in Iowa, Chicago, Indiana, and Kentucky and we rescue cats in urgent need. We are a fully foster-based organization which we see as a large advantage as our cats are not kept in cages which can be stressful & have an impact on behavior and health. They have the opportunity to socialize with other cats, dogs, and kids in the foster home. Our cats truly become well-socialized and the foster parent learns all their behaviors and quirks that they can share with you prior to adoption which makes a completely transparent adoption process. Additionally, we pride ourselves on open communication between our foster parents, adopters, and our screeners even after adoption! We’re here for you every step of the way!
Forever Fortunate Felines was founded by Michela Onesti in 2019 after she lost her cat Giles. Giles was her first cat and the one of the sweetest cats that has ever walked this earth, so loving and loyal! Giles was a gray tabby, as cute as can be! After Giles got lost, Michela tirelessly searched, putting up posters and canvassing local animal control facilities. When Michela arrived at Chicago Animal Care and Control, the scene was overwhelming. So many cats that needed help! This was the inspiration to found Forever Fortunate Felines. While Giles was never found, he can be credited with rescuing and adopting thousands of cats since 2019. So in Giles honer, Forever Fortunate Felines mission is to rescue and save cats from local animal control facilities and place them in wonderful loving homes.
Meet The Board
Michela Onesti, Founder and President
Michela, our founding board member, started Forever Fortunate Felines after a tireless search for her missing cat, Giles, leading her to Chicago Animal Care and Control. It was there that she saw firsthand how many cats needed help! Michela now oversees the entire rescue and loves to focus on saving cats from animal control facilities and ensuring FFF operates at the highest ethical standards.
Gina Badalamenti, Vice President
Mom, teacher, Vice President, and Intake Coordinator @Forever Fortunate Felines & FELV & FIV advocate. Gina is passionate about saving cats and manages our front-end intake department and foster coordination, ensuring that urgent and deadline cats get saved and placed in loving foster homes! Gina's tireless efforts have helped to identify over 7,000 cats that need saving since 2019!
Andrew Lazes, Director of Operations
Andrew is responsible for our operations, medical, finances, and IT. Andrew brings over 30 years of professional management expertise, leading large, diverse teams and managing large-scale projects. Andrew loves it when the busy work can be automated to allow our volunteers to do what they love the most: saving cats! Andrew created the Catbots, which automate so much work that we can rescue over 1000 cats per year with an all-volunteer team!
Jessica Casey, Director of Services
Jessica works to help the volunteers and adopters in many ways, a jack of all trades! She works to help make sure things run as smoothly as possible and quickly de-escalate any issues that may arise. Jessica has been in the rescue world since she was young and has a passion for the rehabilitation of animals, both physically and mentally. When she’s not involved in rescue work, she helps serve her community as a mental health professional, starts a new craft project, or hangs out with her kids.