About the Foundation
Built on decades of service. Driven by a belief that the next generation deserves support.
The NY Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to advancing animal welfare through education, access, and community. We fund scholarships for veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and practice managers, with a focus on emergency and shelter medicine across a seven-state region in the Midwest and Great Plains.
We are not a large institution. We are two people — a veterinarian and a practice manager — who spent 35 years building something from the ground up and decided the most meaningful thing they could do next was invest in the people coming up behind them.
Educate
Scholarships and grants for veterinary students and technicians pursuing careers in emergency and shelter medicine.
Support
Professional development resources for veterinary teams working in emergency care and humane shelters.
Expand Access
Initiatives that bring essential veterinary services to underserved communities and at-risk families.
Connect
Programs that build relationships between shelters, veterinary professionals, and the communities they serve.
Scott Yonker DVM
Scott Yonker grew up on a farm outside Springfield, Nebraska, where caring for animals was simply part of life. That early foundation led him to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and eventually to the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, where he earned his DVM in 1987.
He returned to Omaha the following year and spent the next three decades in emergency veterinary medicine, helping build after-hours emergency care in a region where it was still rare. As a partner at Urgent Pet Care, he helped grow the practice into one of the leading emergency providers in Nebraska and Iowa — serving thousands of families through some of the hardest moments they’ll face with their pets.
What has always stayed with him, alongside the clinical work, is mentorship. Dr. Yonker believes strongly in opening doors for students pursuing veterinary medicine, emergency care, and shelter medicine — and in making sure those students don’t have to navigate that path without support.
When he’s not working, you’ll find him on the family farm with his wife Debbie, caring for their horses, cats, dogs, and restoring old tractors and cars.
Debbie Newhouse
LVT, CVPM
Debbie Newhouse started her veterinary career in 1990 as an assistant at the Animal Emergency Clinic. She fell in love with emergency medicine — not just the clinical pace of it, but the human side: supporting families during moments of crisis, and making sure the teams doing that work felt capable and cared for.
Over the next three decades, she earned her Licensed Veterinary Technician credentials in 2001 and her Certified Veterinary Practice Manager designation in 2009. As co-owner and Practice Administrator of Urgent Pet Care, she helped build an organization that now supports more than 80 team members while maintaining its commitment to affordable, compassionate care.
Debbie holds a degree in biology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an MBA. Her long-term focus has always been on the people behind the work — the technicians, assistants, and managers who make excellent veterinary care possible. The foundation is, in many ways, a direct expression of that.
Debbie Newhouse
LVT, CVPM