Wende Harston has a reason to sing.
Though the Denver jazz artist recently fell on hard times and lost her home, she's found some comfort performing at a local animal rescue shelter, KUSA reported. Hartson had to send her pet parrot, Samula, to live at the shelter several months ago, because there wasn't enough space in the immobile RV where she's been staying.
“Things just got bad quicker than I anticipated,” Harston told the news outlet.
However, she kept her spirits up with weekly visits to Samula, and a guitar and a song.
Harston is a longtime member of the Colorado arts scene -- a dancer, actress and the lead vocalist for Denver’s Queen City Jazz band, who's been compared to legends like Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith, the group writes on its website.
When she found herself unable to provide for her pet, Harston gave Samula to the Gabriel Foundation -- a parrot welfare organization that currently houses nearly 1,000 birds. Harston began coming weekly to sing to Samula, and the other birds responded well to the special concerts, too.
“They LOVE her!” the foundation wrote on a GoFundMe campaign they started for Harston. “Her music, her quiet and kind manner, and her positive energy bring joy to our birds and organization every time she visits.”
The group started the GoFundMe campaign shortly after Harston found a more stable home earlier this month, wanting to repay her for the joy she’s brought the foundation and all the creatures that call it home.
“We personally had a chance to see the effect she had on our birds during a recent visit,” the group wrote on the campaign’s page. “We know that it will still be a struggle for her as she continues to get back on her feet and we would love to find a way to help [her and Samula] stay together.”
On Sunday, the Gabriel Foundation wrote on Facebook that Harston and her beloved pet parrot will be moving to their new home as a pair.
It looks like the next journey for this woman and her feathered friend is going to be a smooth flight.
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