Willie Ortiz has been feeding street cats for the last 24 years, and he doesn't see himself stopping anytime soon.
Ortiz, who is 76 years old, is originally from Puerto Rico, but he now calls Hartford, Connecticut home. Like most big cities, Hartford has a stray cat issue, and, according to Ortiz, people don't want them around.
Kathleen Schlentz
"I saw a lot of stray cats, and people were pushing them and kicking them," Ortiz told The Dodo.
Kathleen Schlentz
Ortiz knew he had to help. While he couldn't adopt all of the street catshimself, he started feeding them, and also taking them to be spayed and neutered. If a cat was sick, Willie would care for him or her at home. He'd also try to rehome as many animals as he could.
Kathleen Schlentz
"They need help," Oritz said. "I want to make sure they have food and that they stay healthy."
Kathleen Schlentz
At the moment, Ortiz is looking after about 68 street cats in 16 differentcolonies, Kathleen Schlentz, a friend of Ortiz, told The Dodo. A colony is group of cats who live together at a specific location, such as a dumpster or an abandoned building.
Kathleen Schlentz
"The colonies are always changing," Schlentz said. "Sometimes the cats get hit by cars, or they don't make it through the winter, and other cats wander in, or people drop them off when they can't take care of them, or don't want to take care of them. So the colonies change all the time."

Kathleen Schlentz
While Ortiz has a huge heart, affording to care for these cats has been challenging.
Kathleen Schlentz
Ortiz doesn't have a lot of money, so he spends his days collecting scrap metal and cleaning people's yards to buy cat food.
Kathleen Schlentz
Luckily, Ortiz now gets a lot of assistance from Schlentz — she helped build him a website for his efforts to rescue cats, and manages Ortiz'sGoFundMe account.
But it's Ortiz who does all the heavy lifting, according to Schlentz.
Kathleen Schlentz
"He works hard physically, and I don't know how he does it," Schlentz said. "He's been doing this for years, and the cats have been fed every single day."
"He's really a humble man," Schlentz added. "He doesn't ever toot his own horn. Some people will say, 'Why do you spend your money on cats?' And he'll say, 'Because they're cats.'"
To help Ortiz care for the street cats of Hartford, make a donation.