FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2020
Boyds, Md. – Robin Martin, a long-time volunteer for Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), has received the 2020 Volunteer Service Award from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper for her dedication and service to the Buncombe County community.
“We are delighted to see Robin receive this most-deserved honor,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, Warrior Canine Connection. “Robin’s unwavering commitment, dedication and support of our programs and the Veterans involved has been nothing short of amazing. She is a tremendous asset not only to our organization but also the wider Buncombe County community. She’s a wonderful human being, and we are all better for knowing her.”
Robin began volunteering with WCC in 2012. Last year alone, she volunteered a staggering 1,727 hours with WCC. She spends a great deal of her time at the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC), where WCC runs its Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) service dog training program for Service Members and Veterans involved in the court system.
No stranger to the military, Robin is a Veteran herself; she spent many years as an Army nurse at the old Walter Reed. And her father was a Veteran who served three tours in Vietnam. She says her support of WCC is all about the Veteran mission.
“It has been such a pleasure to work with the Veterans here in Buncombe County,” said Robin Martin, WCC volunteer. “I love seeing them coming in to meet the dogs for the first time and being grumpy and just not into it. By the end of their first session, they are hooked, and many continue to show up even though they have completed the program and are no longer required to come. The smiles just make my day.”
As a VTC Training Assistant, Robin instructs Veterans on how to work with service dogs in training which helps not only to meet their legal community service obligations but also fulfills a time-honored military tradition of Warriors helping Warriors. In doing so, the Veteran can also benefit from skills development in communication, confidence building, accountability, emotional regulation and patience to promote an act of service while receiving a therapeutic benefit.
In addition to assisting with the VTC, Robin helps provide MBTR to Veterans referred to WCC’s program from the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville and FIRST at Blue Ridge, a residential therapeutic community for individuals and Veterans with substance abuse disorders.
Robin also helps organize and teach puppy parent classes, providing the opportunity for WCC to expand its Asheville and Buncombe County programming.
As if that weren’t enough, it’s also worth noting that, to-date, Robin has helped socialize, raise, train, puppy sit and care for a total of 22 WCC dogs. Currently, Robin is puppy parent to WCC service dog in training Danny, who works closely with the Veterans in the program at the Buncombe County VTC.
The Governor’s Volunteer Service Award honors the true spirit of volunteerism by recognizing individuals, groups and businesses that make a significant contribution to their community through volunteer service. Any person, group, or entity from the public, non-profit and private sector may be nominated for an award to their county award coordinator. County award coordinators submit their top 10 volunteer nominations per county. There are categories for the type of nominee (senior, youth, faith-based, family, group, business, etc.). Additional categories are based upon the area of service (animal, environmental, disaster, youth, preservation, etc.). County recommendations are reviewed by the Commission and awards are given out in the counties.
For more information, please contact Beth Bourgeois, Warrior Canine Connection, at beth.bourgeois@warriorcanineconnection.org or 719-216-3206.
About Warrior Canine Connection
Warrior Canine Connection is a pioneering organization that utilizes a Mission Based Trauma Recovery model to empower returning combat Veterans who have sustained physical and psychological wounds while in service to our country. Based on the concept of Warriors helping Warriors, WCC’s therapeutic service dog training program is designed to mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other challenges, while giving injured combat Veterans a sense of purpose, and help in reintegrating back into their families and communities. For more information, visit www.warriorcanineconnection.org.
New Faces at WCC
Please join us in welcoming Lauren, as she has come to WCC’s Healing Quarters in Boyds, Maryland all the way from Rohnert Park, California. Lauren joins the team in a brand-new role: Canine Health and Puppy Development Specialist.
An avid dog-lover, Lauren started her work in the service dog industry 15 years ago when she began volunteering for a local organization in the kennel. The work inspired her to earn her bachelor’s degree in animal science from Oregon State University.
Following graduation, she spent the next 10+ years at Bergin University of Canine Studies. There, she touched all parts of its service dog program — from training and placing dogs, canine health care, puppy raising, kennel management to teaching students at the University.
“I’ve always been passionate about breeding, whelping and raising litters of service dogs, and I am thrilled be part of the process with the team at WCC,” said Lauren. “It’s definitely been a process of learning for me from the first match I was involved in 10 years ago. I am so excited to be part of this team where we’ll be placing dogs with people who really need them.”
Lauren has two dogs of her own; black Lab, Jaffee, who is WCC Rain’s granddaughter, and a Golden Retriever, Phoebe.
When not working, Lauren enjoys hiking, spending time with family, and with being from “wine country,” says she enjoys wine tasting.
Danny and Eli: Soldiering on Together
Besides a businessman and exercise aficionado, Danny is also an Army Veteran; he enlisted in the Army and served eight years before separating from service. During that time, he worked as an infantry paratrooper in Fort Bragg; he then commanded drill cannons at the Arlington Cemetery; then he deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, where he spent seven-plus months performing more than 800 convoy missions.
Danny will tell you his life post-military wasn’t what he had anticipated.
“I ended up going into the private sector and got fired from my first job out of the Army which, ironically, was selling gym memberships,” says Danny. “I ended up evicted, was homeless, went through a divorce, attempted suicide, spent three days in the psych ward and decided it was time to turn my life around.”
And turn it around did he ever. First stop: The Fire Academy, where Danny graduated at the top of his class. Loving the physical challenge that it brought, he soon after became a certified personal trainer and began slowly building his own clientele. It took some time but that’s how SOLDIERFIT came about.
It was at a class one day that Susan, a WCC puppy parent, brought one of the service dogs in training into the gym. Danny, who had previously had a pit bull named Courage, chatted with Susan and then got serious about getting his own service dog.
“At the initial training, I was first drawn to Manion because I had so much overlap in my life with his namesake Travis, but Eli and I really clicked,” said Danny. “It’s kind of nutty how well the team at WCC know what they’re doing and can read which dog pairs perfectly with each Veteran. Eli is a funny cat who has his own personality, and at the house it’s a running debate over whether he’s my dog or the girls’.”
Danny is happily married to wife Jen. Together, they have two beautiful daughters, River Lynne, 4, and Willow Wynn, 1.
“I have managed to be successful but there are still things I still don’t really like, like going out… crowds… and Eli really helps me with that,” said Danny. “I didn’t want to get trapped in those situations, I wanted to be there for my family, and we’ve worked together to accomplish that. The beautiful thing is, I don’t even realize I’m using him sometimes when I am. He can detect that I’m getting riled up before I am… it’s kind of like four-legged medicine.”
In his line of work, Danny’s used to providing his clients advice and tough love. His advice for fellow Veterans who may be able to benefit from a service dog but are reluctant to explore it?
“At the end of the day, there’s no such thing as who needs it [service dog] more or who needs it less,” says Danny. “A need is a need. I think a lot of Veterans are bad with this and tough on themselves — they push off getting themselves help because they think someone else had it worse than them. There’s no justification for letting yourself struggle when help is available.”
While Danny and Eli were paired in January of this year, they will officially graduate as part of WCC’s 2020 graduation class.
Warrior Canine Connection Receives $90,000 Grant from Wounded Warrior Project to Bring Canine-Assisted Therapy to More Veterans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 21, 2020
BOYDS, Md. – Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) has received a $90,000 grant from Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) in support of its innovative Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) program and to expand its program reach to additional Service Members and Veterans who are registered with WWP.
“We are honored to have the support of Wounded Warrior Project — one of the foremost Veteran service organizations dedicated to supporting post-9/11 Service Members and Veterans,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, Warrior Canine Connection. “Our partnership and this funding for programs will help us to bring canine-assisted therapy to those who will benefit from it most.”
WCC’s MBTR programming is unique from other service dog organizations in that the organization enlists Service Members and Veterans who are in recovery to help train the dogs for their fellow Warriors. Anchored in performing a military support mission, the participants in WCC’s MBTR program concurrently benefit from the program while serving others. Program participants receive therapeutic benefit from skills development in communication, confidence building, accountability, emotional regulation and patience to promote an act of service.
“The long-term resiliency and well-being of the military community requires ever-changing and innovative care solutions,” said WWP CEO Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Linnington. “Service dogs meaningfully improve quality of life and mental health for wounded veterans, and we’re proud to support the amazing work of Warrior Canine Connection.”
WCC will also host WWP warriors at its Healing Quarters in Boyds, Md. on a monthly basis to engage in MBTR programming, early socialization activities with puppies, recreational therapy and volunteer activities.
In the past two years, WCC has expanded its services to communities where Veterans are falling through the cracks and at high risk due to their avoidance of, or lack of, access to DoD or VA care. Specifically, WCC has recently enhanced its efforts to provide MBTR services for Veterans at community-based intervention sites serving Veterans and some of the many VA-administered Veterans Treatment Courts that have emerged throughout the country. Diversification of WCC’s MBTR delivery sites is allowing WCC to not only work with critically-ill Veteran populations in hospital settings, but also the vast population of Veterans who may remain undiagnosed and instead opt to seek help through VA community centers, resource centers, and other non-profit organizations, like Wounded Warrior Project.
For more information, please contact Beth Bourgeois, Warrior Canine Connection, at beth.bourgeois@warriorcanineconnection.org or 719-216-3206.
About Warrior Canine Connection
Warrior Canine Connection is a pioneering organization that utilizes a Mission Based Trauma Recovery model to empower returning combat Veterans who have sustained physical and psychological wounds while in service to our country. Based on the concept of Warriors helping Warriors, WCC’s therapeutic service dog training program is designed to mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other challenges, while giving injured combat Veterans a sense of purpose, and help in reintegrating back into their families and communities. For more information, visit www.warriorcanineconnection.org.
About Wounded Warrior Project
Since 2003, Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) has been meeting the growing needs of warriors, their families, and caregivers — helping them achieve their highest ambition. Learn more.
Robin Martin, WCC Volunteer, Receives 2020 Volunteer Service Award from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
July 7, 2020
Boyds, Md. – Robin Martin, a long-time volunteer for Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), has received the 2020 Volunteer Service Award from North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper for her dedication and service to the Buncombe County community.
“We are delighted to see Robin receive this most-deserved honor,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, Warrior Canine Connection. “Robin’s unwavering commitment, dedication and support of our programs and the Veterans involved has been nothing short of amazing. She is a tremendous asset not only to our organization but also the wider Buncombe County community. She’s a wonderful human being, and we are all better for knowing her.”
Robin began volunteering with WCC in 2012. Last year alone, she volunteered a staggering 1,727 hours with WCC. She spends a great deal of her time at the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC), where WCC runs its Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) service dog training program for Service Members and Veterans involved in the court system.
No stranger to the military, Robin is a Veteran herself; she spent many years as an Army nurse at the old Walter Reed. And her father was a Veteran who served three tours in Vietnam. She says her support of WCC is all about the Veteran mission.
“It has been such a pleasure to work with the Veterans here in Buncombe County,” said Robin Martin, WCC volunteer. “I love seeing them coming in to meet the dogs for the first time and being grumpy and just not into it. By the end of their first session, they are hooked, and many continue to show up even though they have completed the program and are no longer required to come. The smiles just make my day.”
As a VTC Training Assistant, Robin instructs Veterans on how to work with service dogs in training which helps not only to meet their legal community service obligations but also fulfills a time-honored military tradition of Warriors helping Warriors. In doing so, the Veteran can also benefit from skills development in communication, confidence building, accountability, emotional regulation and patience to promote an act of service while receiving a therapeutic benefit.
In addition to assisting with the VTC, Robin helps provide MBTR to Veterans referred to WCC’s program from the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville and FIRST at Blue Ridge, a residential therapeutic community for individuals and Veterans with substance abuse disorders.
Robin also helps organize and teach puppy parent classes, providing the opportunity for WCC to expand its Asheville and Buncombe County programming.
As if that weren’t enough, it’s also worth noting that, to-date, Robin has helped socialize, raise, train, puppy sit and care for a total of 22 WCC dogs. Currently, Robin is puppy parent to WCC service dog in training Danny, who works closely with the Veterans in the program at the Buncombe County VTC.
The Governor’s Volunteer Service Award honors the true spirit of volunteerism by recognizing individuals, groups and businesses that make a significant contribution to their community through volunteer service. Any person, group, or entity from the public, non-profit and private sector may be nominated for an award to their county award coordinator. County award coordinators submit their top 10 volunteer nominations per county. There are categories for the type of nominee (senior, youth, faith-based, family, group, business, etc.). Additional categories are based upon the area of service (animal, environmental, disaster, youth, preservation, etc.). County recommendations are reviewed by the Commission and awards are given out in the counties.
For more information, please contact Beth Bourgeois, Warrior Canine Connection, at beth.bourgeois@warriorcanineconnection.org or 719-216-3206.
About Warrior Canine Connection
Warrior Canine Connection is a pioneering organization that utilizes a Mission Based Trauma Recovery model to empower returning combat Veterans who have sustained physical and psychological wounds while in service to our country. Based on the concept of Warriors helping Warriors, WCC’s therapeutic service dog training program is designed to mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other challenges, while giving injured combat Veterans a sense of purpose, and help in reintegrating back into their families and communities. For more information, visit www.warriorcanineconnection.org.
WCC’s Calli Gets Private Flight to Maryland from Volunteer Pilot
Calli, a WCC military family support dog from the Welcome Home Litter who was paired with his military family earlier this year, recently had some health issues that required some specialized medical care. The problem? He was in Memphis, Tennessee and WCC’s veterinary team is in Sandy Spring, Maryland.
It just so happens Mark, who is a Veteran himself, lives next door to one of WCC’s team members who told him about the situation. That’s when Mark happily agreed to get Calli where he needed to be via his personal four-seater plane.
“There are two types of pilots — a pilot who flies because it’s a good job and the others who fly because they love it,” said Mark. “I often look for an excuse to fly and this was a good one — it was a win-win for everybody.”
A civilian pilot part of his career, Mark says he “got distracted” and ended up going to the military medical school as a naval officer and then he took a position with another commissioned uniformed service that took him to the Indian Health Service where spent 32 years as an eye surgeon.
In his role, Mark often found himself in remote locations where Native Americans didn’t have access to specialty healthcare. He convinced his leadership team to start a small flight department so he could help get physicians and specialists in and out of the area to help provide medical services that otherwise wouldn’t be available.
Mark served as the chief pilot of the flight department for 15 years and recently retired from medicine. Clearly, having spent most of his life helping others isn’t just a job for him, but a way of life.
“I don’t need much excuse to go flying since I retired from my federal job,” said Mark. “Before this, I’ve been around service dogs only on commercial airlines. Calli was absolutely superb. In fact, he was far better than a lot of passengers I used to fly. He was great, he curled up and couldn’t be happier, I was very impressed.”
Calli is back in Maryland, where he’s resting comfortably and in good hands with WCC’s medical team.
We are continually amazed by all that our volunteers and supporters, like Mark, do to help our Veterans, dogs and our organization. Please join us in thanking Mark for going above and beyond to help Calli!
Want to Banish the COVID Blues? Think ‘Pawsitive’
Alumni series highlights how Warrior Canine Connection health benefits translate to all
June 1, 2020 – Anxiety and cabin fever can stem from the stay-at-home orders impacting American lives for the past few weeks. But for nearly 85 million U.S. families, their households offer something that can reduce their feelings of angst and isolation. And it doesn’t come from the fridge. Read more about how to beat the COVID blues in this CU Anschutz Medical Campus story here.
WCC Unleashed
“There’s a real need for programming like this to help Veterans at home tap into the human-animal bond with their pets,” said Rick Yount. “We know not all Veterans need a service dog, but they can certainly learn time-tested methods for helping them improve their relationships, including communication, training and improving their bond with man’s best friend.”
The first installment of WCC Unleashed, which covers training concepts and how Veterans can teach their own dogs different commands, can be viewed here.
The series will focus on different topics in each episode — with all videos designed to help explain, improve and enhance the enjoyment of the bond between a Veteran and his/her four-legged friend. Future topics include grooming, the human-animal bond, stages of learning, among many others.
“Unleashed” isn’t to prepare pups to become future service dogs, rather, it will help explain and, in some instances, decode the what and why of how your dog may be thinking, feeling and behaving.
Subsequent “Unleashed” episodes will be released in the new feature — stay tuned!
Harlem Kindergartners Take Virtual Field Trip to Warrior Canine Connection in Boyds, Maryland
The Harlem Academy class of 25 has been, like most classrooms around the country, learning virtually for months now. Holding a kindergartener’s attention can be challenging under even the best of circumstances, so just imagine teaching more than two dozen kindergarteners virtually.
That’s precisely what co-teachers Hannah Tejeda and Galila Ahmed at Harlem Village Academy have been doing since March. Both Hannah and Galila were in search of lessons that would capture their students’ attention span, be visually pleasing, fun and engaging. That’s when they stumbled on the WCC puppy cam on Explore.org and introduced it to the class. They posted links to the puppy cam on the students’ Google Classroom, where students and parents access their daily lessons. And now, it’s become part of their daily routine.
“The first thing the kids do each morning is check on the puppy playroom and the nursery,” said Hannah. “It’s been really fun to take in their thoughts. Everything they say to me is very quirky and funny because of their age. When all the puppies are sleeping on top of each other, the kids always make comments like ‘get your foot out of my ear’, ‘how are you sleeping like that — isn’t that uncomfortable?”
Hannah says watching the puppies isn’t just about fun and games, it’s also been a great lesson in age and development.
“The class decided that when they first started watching the puppy cam, the puppies were in pre-school,” said Hannah. “After several weeks, they decided they look like third–graders. They make lots of comments on how quickly they’re growing.”
Last week, each pup in Diamond’s Litter has since been placed with their new puppy parents, WCC volunteers who will care for them during their training for up to the next two years.
Hanna says she is grateful that the puppy cam is available to help entertain, educate and touch the hearts of their students. She says they’re also looking forward to watching WCC litters in the future.
“As an adult, my co-teacher and I really appreciate what the organization is doing,” said Hannah. “I’ve had service family members and I think it’s an awesome way to show what you’re doing by using the webcam. It’s really cool because it’s providing an inside look on something we normally wouldn’t have insight on.”
Check Out The Puppies In Training That Have Become A Virtual Hit | Nightly News: Kids Edition
May 26, 2020 – We’ve all been doing a lot of binge-watching lately. One of our favorites is Warrior Canine Connection‘s puppy cam, where you can watch future service dogs sleeping, playing and learning.
Watch the story on WCC’s puppy cam on Explore.org in this episode of NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition here (the segment on WCC begins at 10:52).
New Faces at WCC
Warrior Canine Connection has two new team members who we would like to introduce to you. Please join us in welcoming both Cate Law and MaryAngela Leifeld to our pack!
Cate Law joined the WCC team in March in a brand-new role — Canine Care and Enrichment Coordinator. In this newly designed position, Cate will support the service dog training program by providing daily mental and physical exercises to the dogs who are being housed at the training center. This will ensure that the pups are well-rounded and cared for, allowing the training staff to focus their time and energy on each dog’s behavioral training plans.
“I’m thrilled to be taking this next step and to be working with WCC,” said Cate. “WCC has the most unique mission by not only placing dogs with Veterans but involving them in the mission, and I am so excited to be a part of that.”
Cate comes to WCC as a recent graduate from the University of Maryland, where she received her bachelor’s in Persian Studies. She discovered her passion for service dogs as a volunteer puppy raiser for a guide dog organization while still in college, and she even helped to get a puppy–raising club off the ground at the University.
In the past three years, she has taught numerous classes for puppy raisers and started a financial support program for puppy raisers of service dog training programs that do not cover all costs of the puppy. She is currently raising her third puppy for another organization, Sage, a female Lab/golden cross, who you may see making friends around WCC! Cate says she hopes to raise a WCC puppy in the future.
When not working, Cate enjoys spending time hiking, exploring Maryland, trying new restaurants and spending time with friends.
MaryAngela recently joined WCC as a service dog training instructor and will be based out the Boyds, Md. headquarters. She joined the team in early May during the pandemic, so her acclimation has been anything but “normal” since all trainings are taking place 100% virtually. However, MaryAngela says she’s settling in well, learning the ropes and that she’s happy to be part of the team nonetheless.
“It’s a unique time to have started a new position but everyone has been truly welcoming and great in terms of making sure I’ve got what I need, know what I need to do and get settled in,” said MaryAngela. “I’m really excited to be part of such a cool program that has such a focused mission in support of our Veterans.”
MaryAngela has been working with assistance and service dogs for years. She got her start by volunteering to raise and train assistance dogs years ago while in middle school and has been hooked ever since.
In fact, in college, she majored in radio-television-film but dogs ultimately won her over, and she became a full-time service dog training instructor, specializing in training dogs to provide greater independence for individuals with disabilities.
Most recently, she worked in the private dog training sector, where she developed a broader knowledge of puppy development and the modification of complex behavioral issues by aiding pet dog owners to achieve their training goals.
When not working, MaryAngela and her wife, who have two dogs and a cat, enjoying hobbies that revolve around their pets such as training and hiking.
Please join us in welcoming both Cate and MaryAngela to our pack!