Our Founder

Elaine was born and raised in Athens, PA.  After high school, she traveled to NYC in hopes of becoming a Rockette, but fate led her in another direction. She met her husband, Robert, and returned to the area opening her school of dance. 

Mrs. Forkan always had a deep love and appreciation for dogs and birds. Spending much of her time later in life watching local birds. Her daughter, Patricia, on the other hand was infatuated with cats and kittens. 

The story of Stray Haven began with two dogs running at large in Sayre, PA; Hippity & Hoppity. Elaine worked tirelessly to earn the trust of these two dogs, befriending and caring for them while allowing them their freedom. One day, her two dogs were caught and killed by the dog control officer.  Elaine was devastated, which fueled her outrage. She was horrified to learn that given the laws and lack of shelters within the county at the time, this was a normal practice.

She set out to make this right.

In the late 60s Sam and Ann Parente became members and donated the use of a small building they owned in South Waverly where Subway is today. Although Parente’s building years later was torn down and a new building erected (was Domino’s and is now Subway). The building was vacant when they donated it for our use. Laura and Walt Smith and a few other women volunteered their time. (They worked hard and WITHOUT running water on site!) They collected donations from people and "The Paw Shop” was born. It was a thrift shop with everything donated and 100% of the sales went in the general treasury to help the animals. Many kind ladies worked there as volunteers over the years- Jen Brennan, Pat Rodman, Norma Shaffer and Lorena Millage to name a few. The Paw Shop stayed open from about ‘68 or ‘69 until the Parente’s  decided to sell the building some time in the early 80’s.