Networks are vital to our ability to access resources. However, scholars have often overlooked just how social networks are mobilized. Underexplored in the literature is how individuals think and feel about mobilizing networks with little attention directed towards the person (alter) being reached out to. In this dissertation, I use a basic, interpretive design to better understand how people think and feel about receiving requests for task-related help, paying particular attention to when those requests originate from people from one’s past. To do so, I conducted interviews with 40 animal rescuers given their passion for helping, but their inability to assist everyone, so they must be selective about which ties to mobilize. My findings show that simply possessing a tie does not always translate into successful mobilization, alters think and feel differently about help-seekers from their past as compared to people they currently interact with, and that people from one’s past may be useful reservoirs of value, but present unique challenges that must be overcome before benefiting from these connections. This work contributes to the literature by better incorporating alters into the mobilization process and helps shift the focus away from only mobilizing current connections and towards mobilizing people from the past
