Meet Molly French: A Gentle Hand in Recovery and a Warm Welcome for Volunteers
Volunteer Spotlight | Street Cat HUB
At Street Cat HUB, there are people who quietly make the day better simply by being there. Marjory "Molly" French is one of those people. As Street Cat HUB Volunteer Coordinator and Recovery Room Lead, Molly helps community cats wake safely after surgery and helps volunteers find a place where their time and kindness can do some good.
She is the kind of person you want in a recovery room. She pays attention. She stays calm.She understands that a cat waking from anesthesia may be scared, uncomfortable, or simply unsure of what has happened. She also understands that a new volunteer may feel a little unsure on that first day. Molly makes room for each of them, the cats and the people, with patience and care.
Finding Her Way to Albuquerque
Molly has lived in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin and South Carolina. Eventually, she made her way to Albuquerque, a place that suited her from the start.
"I moved to Albuquerque because I liked the vibe," Molly says.
That simple answer feels very much like Molly. She has lived in enough places to recognize when one feels right. Albuquerque became home, and after a while, the community cats here led her to Street Cat HUB.
The Cats Who Brought Her Through the Door
Molly first came to Street Cat HUB in 2022 when she brought in two community cats for services. At the time, she was doing what so many caregivers and concerned neighbors do: trying to help the cats in front of her.
Then, in September 2023, Molly brought in a mother cat and her litter of five kittens. Seeing that little family receive help connected her to the clinic in a new way. She did not leave the care of community cats at the door when she dropped them off. She joined the team as a volunteer that same month.
"I brought two cats in during 2022, and then I brought in a mama cat and her litter of five in September 2023," Molly says. "That is when I started volunteering."
Many volunteers begin with one cat, one litter, or one situation they cannot ignore. They see a need, then they see the people doing the work, and they realize they can be part of it too. For Molly, that first step grew into work that now touches cats, caregivers and volunteers throughout the clinic.
A Place in the Recovery Room
Molly found her place in recovery. It is quiet, careful work, and it matters every single clinic day.
After surgery, each cat must be watched while anesthesia wears off. Recovery volunteers and staff prepare clean traps, line them with pads, monitor the cats and help keep them safe and comfortable until they are ready for the next step. Some cats wake slowly. Some are alert before you expect it. Some make it very clear that they would prefer you admire them from a respectful distance.
Molly appreciates all of them.
"My favorite thing about recovery is making sure the cats come out of surgery well," Molly says. "I like monitoring them as they wake up from anesthesia, and I try to make the transition as stress-free as possible.”
There is something tender about those minutes after surgery. A kitten may open sleepy eyes and lean into a gentle touch. A mother cat may begin waking from the last surgery she will ever need because of pregnancy after pregnancy. An adult community cat may never become anyone's lap cat, but that cat still deserves careful monitoring, vaccination and a safe return home.
Visit our volunteer page to learn about current opportunities and submit a volunteer application. Come join Molly and the Street Cat HUB team. Community cats need kind people who are ready to help.
More on Molly’s Journey
Molly knows recovery is not the part of the work most people see. It involves cleaning, watching, record keeping and close attention. It is not glamorous. Cats have never cared much about glamour, which may be one of their finer qualities. What they need is someone steady. Molly is steady.
From Volunteer to Staff Member
In 2025, Molly transitioned from volunteer to staff member. Today, she serves as Street Cat HUB's Volunteer Coordinator and Recovery Room Lead.
The move made sense. Molly already knew the clinic from the volunteer side. She knew how it felt to begin, to learn new tasks and to become part of a team. She also knew the recovery room well and understood how much thoughtful care matters to cats as they wake from surgery.
Now she welcomes other people into the work. Some volunteers already know a great deal about cats. Others arrive because they care and want to learn. Molly enjoys meeting them, hearing what brought them to Street Cat HUB and helping connect them with the place where they can be useful.
"I like meeting people who want to volunteer at Street Cat," Molly says. "I enjoy finding volunteers for Street Cat. There is a good community feel here, and it is a good place to work."
A volunteer coordinator does far more than fill a schedule. A good coordinator helps people understand that their time matters. She helps them grow comfortable with the work and reminds them that small tasks add up. A clean trap, a carefully monitored cat, a completed form and a dependable shift all help the clinic care for community cats.
Why TNR Matters
Molly believes in trap-neuter-return because it is a humane answer to a problem people see throughout Albuquerque. Community cats are already living outside, often supported by neighbors who feed them and watch for illness or injury. Without spay and neuter services, one or two cats can quickly become many more, and the kittens face hard odds outdoors.
Through TNR, community cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated and returned to their familiar outdoor home. The cats remain in the area they know, but the cycle of new litters begins to slow.
"It is the humane thing to do," Molly says. "TNR controls the cat population and improves the lives of community cats."
For a female cat, it means no repeated pregnancies and no more litters to nurse in unsafe conditions. For male cats, neutering can reduce behaviors tied to mating. For caregivers, it means they can help the cats already in their neighborhood without watching the colony keep growing each season.
For Molly, every cat she sees through recovery represents a small but meaningful change. That cat wakes, heals and returns home with better protection and without contributing to another round of kittens born outside. That is practical compassion, carried out one cat at a time.
Purpose and Community
Working at Street Cat HUB gives Molly a sense of purpose. It puts her alongside people who care about the same things she does, and it gives her a team she can rely on.
"Street Cat gives me a sense of purpose," Molly says. "I get to meet people with similar interests, and I get to be part of a strong team."
That matters. Rescue and TNR work can be emotional. There are days filled with happy news and sleepy kittens. There are days that are difficult. It helps to work beside people who understand why each cat matters and who are willing to take on the practical work that compassion requires.
Molly helps create that feeling for new volunteers. She is one of the first people they may meet, and she gives them a clear picture of how they can help. In turn, volunteers help Street Cat HUB reach more cats and support more community caregivers.
A Librarian at Heart
Before retiring, Molly worked as a librarian with the Charleston County Public Library, including work connected with the South Carolina Room and the Charleston Archive. It is easy to see how that experience carries over into her work at Street Cat HUB. Librarians know how to listen, how to guide people toward what they need and how to keep steady when several questions arrive at once.
Molly still loves books. Her favorite category is contemporary literature, and she recommends two titles: Touch by Claire North and Waiting for My Cats to Die: A Morbid Memoir by Stacy Horn.
A person who recommends a book called Waiting for My Cats to Die is probably someone who understands animal people pretty well. We love deeply, we worry more than we mean to, and we know that caring for animals will eventually ask something of our hearts. Still, we would not trade the love or the responsibility.
Molly has spent much of her life helping people find stories, information and connection. At Street Cat HUB, that same caring spirit appears in a different setting: a recovery room, a volunteer orientation, a trap holding a cat who will soon go home healthier than when they arrived.
Join Molly and the Street Cat HUB Team
Molly began by bringing in cats who needed help. Then she volunteered. In 2025, she joined the staff and began helping new volunteers take their own first steps into this work.
Street Cat HUB needs dependable people who care about community cats and want to help in practical ways. Volunteers support clinic care, recovery, intake, cleaning, administrative work, outreach and other needs that help TNR services continue for cats in the Greater Albuquerque area.
You do not need to know everything before you begin. You need compassion, reliability and a willingness to learn. There is a place for people who are comfortable in a clinic setting, people who enjoy meeting the public, and people who prefer helping behind the scenes. Each role supports community cats and the people trying to care for them.
When you join the Street Cat HUB team, you become part of the same caring community that welcomed Molly. You help a cat recover safely. You help prevent future litters from being born outdoors. You help make humane care possible for cats who share our neighborhoods.
Molly found purpose, friendship and meaningful work here. You may find the same.