About Us

Cats in Action is a registered 501c3 non-profit charitable organization located in Chicago, IL. Your donations are tax deductible. Our EIN is 88-4052929.

Our Mission

Cats in Action’s mission is to enable people to help free-roaming cats through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) by sharing best practices and providing comprehensive resources.

Our Vision

Free-roaming feral and stray cats present community issues that warrant community-based solutions. Cats in Action envisions solutions where people in every demographic have access to the resources they need to help cats in their neighborhoods. In our vision, free-roaming cats live in harmony with people and are sterilized, vaccinated, healthy and declining in numbers through proactive, ongoing TNR. We envision a world where one day kittens are no longer born on the streets.

Our Founders

Erica Roewade started in outdoor cat welfare in 2013 when she came home one night to find 8 kittens in her tree in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood and knew she had to think of something. She has since relocated to Chicago’s far southeast side where she has focused her TNR and rescue efforts for the past 10 years.  

Erica has TNRed over 4000 cats and has rescued more than 2000 stray cats and kittens. Highly experienced in barn cat and working cat programs, she has worked to evolve best-practice relocation protocols for feral cats with no return-to-colony options. Erica has partnered with law enforcement and municipal agencies on animal hoarding (More Than 100 Cats Removed From Abandoned Chicago Home) and neighbor dispute issues, developed and hosted training workshops, and raised thousands of dollars online to aid injured feral cats. 

Liz Houtz became involved in TNR in 2010 after seeing free-roaming cats in her Northside Chicago neighborhood. In 2012 she started volunteering to help other people trap the cats they were feeding.

Liz has trapped over 5000 cats, placed more than 2000 friendly cats and kittens into adoptive homes, fostered hundreds of cats and worked more than 32 cat hoarding projects. Liz is a licensed Humane Investigator with the Department of Agriculture. She has spoken at several national conferences regarding TNR best practices and crafting effective TNR legislation.

Erica and Liz co-founded Cats in Action in 2020 as a resource group for people caring for outdoor cats in the Chicagoland area. Cats in Action received 501c3 non-profit status in October 2022. They serve as the President and Vice President, respectively, of the Cats in Action Board of Directors.

Cats in Action is a Sponsor under the 2007 Cook County Managed Care of Feral Cats Ordinance 07-O-72. Erica and Liz co-administrate the Chicago Community Cats TNR and Illinois Barn Cats Facebook groups and co-teach a monthly workshop, “Helping Cats Near You.” For press inquiries, speaking engagements, presentations or further information, contact us at info@catsinaction.org.

Our Board of Directors

Dave Davis spent his career as an intellectual property attorney with Baker & McKenzie before retiring in 2025. Dave and his wife Lucy live in Lakeview with their indoor cats and outdoor working cats. 

Nicole Silva Offutt was working for Boeing most recently when she completed her MBA at U of Chicago and lead a student project with CIA. She lives in Logan Square with her husband, 2 kids and 2 working cats. 

Christine Martz worked as a network tech for an internet provider and later as the technology specialist for her library district. She learned to TNR in 2013 when Erica and Liz helped her with her own large colony that she shares with two neighbors. She lives in Chicagoland with her son and her cat Snickers.