Healing Wild Hearts Sanctuary was created around a simple belief: where you have been does not determine where you can go next.
A PLACE TO HEAL, GROW, AND BEGIN AGAIN.
ABOUT HEALING WILD HEARTS
Our mission
Healing Wild Hearts Sanctuary provides lifelong care and sanctuary for horses in need while creating a place where horses and people find connection, purpose, growth, healing, and joy together.
Healing Wild Hearts grew from that experience and from a belief that horses and people can offer something meaningful to one another. We are building a place where horses are given the care, dignity, and opportunity they deserve, and where people can come as they are to learn, connect, grow, and discover what is possible next.
They helped her find her way back.
Sometimes the ones we set out to help are the ones who help us find our way.
Healing Wild Hearts began with a personal experience. During one of the lowest seasons of our founder's life, she began volunteering with horses. What started as a desire to give back became something she never expected.
In caring for them, something began to change. Confidence returned. Her leadership voice grew stronger. Purpose became clear again. And with it came a determination to create a place where other people could experience the joy, connection, growth, and sense of possibility she had found with horses.
The horses did not care about titles, accomplishments, setbacks, or expectations. They simply met her where she was.
WHY WE EXIST
A PLACE WHERE WHAT IS POSSIBLE MATTERS MORE THAN WHAT HAS BEEN LOST.
We envision a community where horses and people are not defined by their past, their circumstances, or their limitations.
A place where a horse once overlooked is valued. Where a person who has lost confidence can discover it again. Where different abilities are recognized as strengths. Where purpose can be rediscovered, trust can be rebuilt, and everyone has something meaningful to contribute.
Our vision is a community where horses and people help one another move forward, and where healing, growth, purpose, and joy are possible at every stage of the journey.
OUR VISION
Safety. Community. Giving Back. Healing.
Adapting does not mean lowering the standard.
Getting back up does not mean pretending something didn't hurt.
Excellence does not mean perfection
It means caring enough to do things well. We set the bar high for the horses entrusted to us, the people we serve, and ourselves. We keep learning, ask for help when we need it, and do the work required to make this a safe, meaningful place worthy of their trust.
Safety, community, giving back, and healing shape how we care for our horses, welcome people, make decisions, serve our community, and hold ourselves accountable for the sanctuary we are building.
It means finding a way despite the obstacles ahead. Every horse is different. Every person is different. What works for one may not work for another. We meet each where they are, adjust when circumstances change, and find another way forward without losing sight of what matters.
AND THROUGH EVERYTHING...
ADAPT
GET BACK UP
EXCELLENCE
WHAT WE STAND FOR
Life knocks all of us down. Progress can be messy. Plans change. Things go wrong. We believe strength is found in what happens next: learning from the experience, accepting help when we need it, and finding the courage to try again.
For Alisha, Healing Wild Hearts is more than a sanctuary. It is the place where the horses helped her find her way back, and the place she is now building so others have room to discover what is possible for them.
Founder & President
ALISHA NOWLIN
OUR FOUNDER
Alisha Nowlin founded Healing Wild Hearts Sanctuary after experiencing firsthand the profound impact horses can have on confidence, purpose, leadership, and joy.
Her path to the sanctuary followed more than 15 years at Boeing, where she led teams and supported complex national and international defense programs.
Throughout her career, she became deeply invested in leadership development, creating opportunities for people to recognize their strengths, grow through challenges, and become stronger leaders.
Today, Alisha brings those experiences together at Healing Wild Hearts.
She believes people and horses are capable of far more than the circumstances surrounding them might suggest. Her approach is grounded in personal responsibility, continuous learning, adaptability, compassion, and the belief that getting knocked down does not determine what happens next.
Vice President
Jazmine NOWLIN
Jazmine Marie Nowlin has been surrounded by a love and respect for animals and wildlife for as long as she can remember. Growing up, nature walks with her grandmother, bird-banding activities, exploring sea life along the Gulf Coast, and visits to zoos and wildlife sanctuaries helped shape a lifelong appreciation for the natural world.
Her family also taught her that caring for animals often means simply stepping in when help is needed. Over the years, that has included helping injured squirrels and ducklings after hurricanes, welcoming stray and abandoned cats, and now caring for Sasha, her Belgian Malinois and one of the great joys of her life.
When Jazmine is not tending to Sasha’s every whim and need, she moonlights as an attorney, practicing construction litigation. She earned her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center after completing her Bachelor of Science in International Business at Pepperdine University.
Jazmine is honored to serve as Vice President of Healing Wild Hearts Sanctuary and looks forward to helping shape its future as a place where horses and people can come together to heal, encourage, learn, and inspire one another.
Treasurer
Erin Flavin
Erin Flavin's love of horses began with her mother and grandmother, but it was volunteering with horses in 2025 that brought them back into the center of her life. She began helping after seeing a call for volunteers to feed wild mustang foals who had been separated from their mothers.
Through that experience, Erin realized how deeply she had missed being around horses and met Ruby, the horse she describes as her soul horse. Ruby changed Erin's life in ways she never expected. Although Erin had to say goodbye to her in July 2026, the experience strengthened her commitment to remain involved with horses and honor what Ruby had given her.
Erin joined Healing Wild Hearts Sanctuary after Alisha invited her to serve on the Board of Directors. She brings a genuine love for horses, a desire to serve, and an eagerness to continue learning, particularly in the area of equine health and care.
For Erin, Healing Wild Hearts is an opportunity to give back to the animals that have given her so much and to help build a sanctuary where horses and people can experience the connection, peace, and possibility she found through Ruby.
Together, we are creating a place where the horses in our care can thrive and where people can heal, grow, find purpose, and begin again.
THERE IS A PLACE FOR YOU IN THIS STORY.
Healing Wild Hearts is still being built, but the heart of this sanctuary is already here.
Every person who gives their time, every donor who believes in the mission, and every member of our community who chooses to be part of what we are building helps shape what comes next.