Every rescue at Amore for Dogs begins with a name. Amore means love in Italian, and it belonged first to a Bichon Frise who was Viviana Soldano FaBrizio’s companion for 14 years. When Amore passed, the grief was overwhelming. Then Viviana came across a photo of a shelter dog set to be euthanized, and something in her shifted. She could not look away. If she could give even one dog the love she had given Amore, she thought, that was the work she was meant to do. The Newport Beach nonprofit that now carries that name was born out of grief, and out of love.

That instinct, to commit fully to a passion, traces back to Viviana’s childhood in Genova, Italy. Her father, the internationally recognized fashion designer Sergio Soldano, dressed legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Jones and Raquel Welch. What stayed with her was not the glamour but the discipline behind it, the way he believed completely in what he was doing. She carried that lesson into her own career as a model, and eventually into the sanctuary she runs today. The scale is different, she says. The commitment is the same.

Amore for Dogs, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Newport Beach, rests on a few clear pillars: rescuing dogs at risk of euthanasia, funding medical care and supporting other rescue organizations doing the same work. In 2019, Viviana and her husband Bruce purchased a property to build something that did not fit the traditional shelter model. They wanted a true sanctuary, a custom facility designed around one question: "What does a good life look like for a dog?" The build continues to grow, and so does what it can offer.

Ask Viviana which part of the mission means the most to her, and she does not hesitate for long. It is the rehabilitation. Some dogs arrive broken, she says, not only in body but in spirit. They have been let down by people and have closed themselves off. To be the person who earns that trust back, who sits nearby without pushing and waits for the dog to come closer, is the heart of the work. The first wag of a tail, the first step taken toward her instead of away, never gets old. That, she says, is the story of every dog she has ever taken in.

It is also the part most people never see. The beautiful photographs of happy dogs are real, but behind them is the slower, harder truth: the behavioral challenges, the medical needs, the months a frightened dog may need before it feels safe. The work asks for the same steady presence every single day, whether it is easy or not. Viviana would not change it.

She has not faced it alone. Her husband Bruce, founder and CEO of Simple Green, has believed in the mission from the start, and the company has matched proceeds on fundraising projects in ways that have made a real difference. There is something powerful, she says, about building something meaningful alongside your partner. It becomes bigger than either of you.

Viviana has also found a way to merge her two worlds. Drawing on a lifetime in front of the camera, she has built awareness through photo projects, calendars, postcards and gallery shows featuring the rescued dogs themselves. A beautiful image, she believes, can open doors that a traditional ask cannot, and the dogs make remarkable subjects. They tell the story on their own.

The Newport Beach community has answered that story with real generosity, something Viviana describes as deeply moving. For anyone who wants to help, the path is simple. You can learn more at amorefordogs.org and follow along on Instagram at @amorefordogs.

If there is one idea she hopes readers carry away, it is this: every dog deserves a safe and dignified life, especially the ones with nowhere else to go. It is not about numbers or statistics, she says. It is about each individual animal, and what we owe them. If even one person reads this and decides to pay a little closer attention, that is a life changed.

And for Viviana, that is everything.