Chico Cat Cafe

Even though our doors are closed, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on everything the café taught me — not just about cats, but about people, trust, and community.

So much of what we created together in that space came from quietly observing how cats move through the world — how they build trust, how they take their time, how they choose when to engage.

I put some of those reflections into words here. It’s a little different than what I’ve shared before, but it’s deeply connected to everything the café stood for.

If you spent time with us, I think you’ll recognize some of these moments. 🐾

What Cats Taught Me About Leadership (That No Book Ever Did) Every leadership book talks about trust, patience, and reading the room. None of them credit cats.

350 + cats found their people within our walls. 60,000 people walked through our doors. And we couldn’t find a single landlord willing to let us do it again.

Here’s what we decided to do instead.

You were part of this. The quiet mornings. The full weekends. The cats who didn’t know yet they were about to be chosen. The something-in-the-air that made it feel like more than a place.

And even after we closed in September — you never really left.

The voicemails kept coming. The emails asking about reopening. People stopping by our old location, hoping to find us there. Tour groups. Cancelled events. The volunteers and fosters who raised their hands and said: I’m ready. Whenever you are.

And the ones who came just to love on the cats — no agenda, no adoption plan, just a need to be somewhere that felt real. We saw you. We knew you. We remembered your favorite cats.

And the adopters — the ones who walked in not knowing they were about to meet their person, and walked out changed. We carry every one of those stories.

This community never stopped believing in us. And we never stopped trying.

Since December, we met with nearly half a dozen landlords. We showed up prepared. We made the case. We believed each time it might be the one.

Some spaces didn’t fit. Others — and this is the harder truth — had landlords unwilling to consider an animal-centered space at all.

Over three years, together, we built something extraordinary:

🐾 350+ cats adopted
🐾 700+ events
🐾 60,000+ visits
🐾 9 rescue partnerships
🐾 Countless happy tears, quiet moments, and squeals of absolute delight

And the system still said no.

The proof is already here. The only thing missing is access.

So we decided to stop asking for one space — and start funding many.

🐈 Introducing: The CATS Foundation 🐈
Cultivating Alternative Transition Spaces

Jodi has founded The CATS Foundation — a California-based philanthropic initiative dedicated to funding the next 2.0 generation of alternative adoption pathways.

Through ✨ The Purrposeful Pathways Project ✨ we’ll offer micro-grants and scholarships to individuals and organizations creating:
• Pop-up adoption lounges
• Foster-based enrichment spaces
• Community adoption events
• And yes — new cat cafés built with everything 1.0 taught us

Our first California grant round opens Spring 2027. If you’ve been dreaming about building something like this — or know someone who has — we want to hear from you.

And if you want to help us fund more spaces and more ideas — that door is opening soon too.

The café couldn’t find its next space.

So we decided to help build many.

You were part of 1.0.

Now you’re part of what 2.0 makes possible. ❤️🐾

To our incredible staff, who showed up day after day with care, patience, and heart.
To our rescue partners, who trusted us with their cats through every season.
To our students and regulars, who made us part of their routines, their study breaks, their safe place.
Thank you.
You didn’t just support this space. You helped shape it. This Foundation exists because of you.

And to the cats of Chico — thank you for trusting us to find you your people, on your terms, in your own time. You were never just the residents.

You were the whole point. 🐾 We LOVE you all so much ❤️

If you were part of this — we want to hear your favorite memory. A cat you still think about. A moment that stayed with you. A photo if you have one.

We’ll go first.

The moment we keep returning to is a cat who had been shut down in a shelter — withdrawn, invisible, passed over — finally relaxing into themselves in a room full of strangers. Not because someone reached for them. But because the space itself was safe enough that they chose to open.

That’s the heart of everything we built together. And it’s exactly what The CATS Foundation exists to make possible — again and again, in as many places as we can.

Drop yours below. Let’s hold this chapter together before we step into the next one 😻🐈‍⬛🌈

🦇😸Batman says “WAIT!…The PAWP-UP is TODAY?” 😸🦇

Judging by his face Bobby Batman just realized that TODAY is our kitten PAWP-UP ADOPTION FAIRE - he cannot believe that you’re not here yet! 😂🐾

This handsome little bay boy is ready for his close up…and maybe even ready to meet his forever family. (He promises to not relocate into your shadows…unless you want him to).

Come meet Batman and all of the other adorable kitties waiting for love, snuggles, and fresh starts!

📍Where: PawPrints Spay & Neuter Clinic
2607 Esplanade, Chico
⏰ Happening NOW! 10am-3pm
💛$5 Suggested Donation to NCA

✨Kittens and fabulous adult cats!
✨No reservations needed!
✨Your next best friend might have tiny bat fangs 🧛

PAWP-on in today - Batman is watching the door …. very dramatically 😂🐾