Service Dog Training Program Helps Wounded Veterans Avoid Incarceration
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Warrior Canine Connection is offering a new program to support the Veterans Treatment Court in Asheville, North Carolina. Working with the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court, the WCC program utilizes service dog training as a community service option for Veterans involved with the criminal justice system.
“We are honored to be able to provide service dog training as a community service option in participation with the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, Warrior Canine Connection. “Several Veteran participants have shared that they feel good about their volunteerism — helping to train the dogs but what they didn’t realize going in was just how much the training of the dogs would end up helping them. That’s a powerful testimonial to the impact these service dogs in training are having on our nation’s Veterans, and we’re thrilled to be providing this service in Asheville.”
The Asheville-based program marks the sixth WCC program working with Veteran Treatment Court programs, including four sites (Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) in California and in Baltimore. The VTC program utilizes WCC’s Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) model in which Veterans work to overcome the stress of combat by training service dogs for their fellow Veterans.
One Asheville participant shared the following thoughts on his participation in the VTC program:
“I love working with Clifford. As a combat-wounded Veteran, I have struggled physically (32 surgeries) and emotionally; to make human connections and to find my tribe after the Marines has been difficult. I think this is because I just don’t feel safe in my own skin, let alone around others. Working with Clifford, I feel normal. I feel like a person again. Who knew that working with these dogs would help me feel more like a human. Because of the work we are doing in WCC, I am able to speak to other people [now]. The best way to put it — Clifford keeps me calm. He is always happy to see me. And he responds to my moods. I am learning that I can control how I feel. And instead of being alone with my thoughts, I am often focusing on Clifford.”
Veterans involved in the courts are often required to complete a set number of community service hours. The dog training — offered through WCC — is one of the options on the docket. Training takes place on a weekly basis at the courthouse and Veterans can participate within the WCC program for the duration of their VTC commitment.
“I am so excited to have the VTC working with the Warrior Canine Connection,” said Honorable Judge Marvin Pope. “WCC (Amy and Clifford) has brought a new sense of joy into the courtroom that directly mirrors our non-punitive and supportive approach. I am seeing Veterans that are otherwise isolated and reserved (from unaddressed PTSD symptomatology) coming to life. Through this new modality, Veterans are learning critical skills of self-regulation, pro-social development and self-soothing. While we are training the service animal, it is actually a mutual process of growth and healing.”
The program teaches Veterans 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.
Starting in 2008, states and counties in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs created a system of Veterans Treatment Courts throughout the nation. To date, these VTCs have used treatment to help rehabilitate more than 10,000 Veterans with mental health and/or substance dependence and legal issues. Despite these efforts, tens of thousands of Veterans continue to need similar assistance.
For some Veterans, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury can contribute to their misconduct, such as increased risk-taking, self-medication and other behavioral issues that result in their subsequent, and sometimes repeated, involvement in the criminal justice system.
The WCC VTC Program was developed and implemented thanks in part to a 2017 grant provided by the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The Foundation had provided a previous 2016 grant to WCC to oversee a feasibility plan to use service dogs as a community service option.
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, help in reintegrating back into their families and communities, and a potential career path as a service dog trainer. For more information, visit www.warriorcanineconnection.org.
About Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court
The mission of the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is to promote public safety through accountability and responsibility. The Veterans Treatment Court utilizes a non-adversarial, team approach to providing a host of mental health, addiction, trauma, behavioral, and psychosocial services and supports to veterans facing non-violent felony charges. We assist and support Veterans and their families as they move through a coordinated effort among the court and community-based Veteran services while improving their quality of life. Buncombe County is now on the cutting edge of recovery-based diversion court programs and serves as an example for criminal justice reform. Learn more by visiting www.buncombeveteranscourt.com. For more information, contact VTC Coordinator Kevin Rumley at (828) 259-6601.
First-Time Puppy Parent Ryan Holland Relishes Experience
“Being a Veteran, I understand the difficulties of transitioning from military life to civilian life,” says Ryan. “It’s difficult as-is and to add a layer of PTS, TBI or a physical disability adds another difficult challenge to the mix. I wanted to give back to my own community — there’s a definite need among Veterans. People see the coming and going to and from deployment but the transition back to civilian life is really hard.”
Ryan became a puppy parent to service dog in training, yellow Labrador Retriever Joseph. The two hit it off immediately, along with Ryan’s chocolate Lab, Jackson.
“There was water splashed all over my house, lots of wrestling and some extra dog hair but we’ve both bonded with Joseph pretty quickly,” says Ryan. “Joseph is a really unique dog with a great personality. I’ve learned a lot during the service dog training process, and it’s helped shape how I treat my own dog, too. I’ve also learned from Joseph – to slow down, be patient and even how to communicate with my own dog better.”
Best of all, Ryan works on the Anschutz Medical Campus, where he serves as the Director of Pre-Award Contracting Services for the University of Colorado, so he’s within just a stone’s throw of regular puppy parent training sessions and other WCC-related needs.
Golf Apparel for Good: Linksoul Donating 10% of Line to WCC
Like golf? Like to shop? Combining the two is helping to raise funds for Warrior Canine Connection — thanks to Linksoul. Based in Oceanside, close to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Linksoul is a premier golf apparel company committed to supporting Service Members and Veterans by donating a portion of its proceeds to WCC and other Veterans charities.
Through the WCC/Linksoul partnership, which is showcased in this video, the company is donating 10 percent of its proceeds from the “Make Par Not War” line to WCC. So far, the partnership has provided more than $16,000 to help support our
mission of providing highly trained service dogs to Veterans.
Marine Corps Veteran Joshua Stueve (pictured to the right), an avid golfer, dog lover, and Linksoul brand ambassador, is featured in the WCC/Linksoul partnership ads and helped forge the partnership through his friendship with Linksoul founders John Ashworth and Geoff Cunningham. Stueve has since become a member of the WCC Board of Directors, joining other great leaders who volunteer their time to support the organization.
“Connecting Linksoul with WCC was such a natural fit,” said Stueve. “Both are filled with extremely talented and good-hearted people, who first and foremost seek to make a positive impact on their respective communities. With Camp Pendleton just down the road from the Linksoul Lab in Oceanside, it was a perfect opportunity to “Link Souls” and I am proud to have played a small role in the matchmaking.”
“It’s always been a goal for us to find a way to give back,” said Geoff Cunningham, co-founder and art director, Linksoul. “When we met Josh and learned about the WCC, it all just made perfect sense.”
Linksoul prides itself on “creating products we value, with people we love, for the good of our families and our community,” with an eye on support for Veterans.
Please join us in thanking Linksoul for its generous support of WCC and other Veterans organizations across the country.
Facebook Watch: 365 Days of Love
January 19, 2019 – What does love mean to you? That’s the question the new Facebook Watch series titled “365 Days of Love” hosted by Sophia Vergara aims to answer. The show, which kicked off on January 1, focuses on many subjects and, just recently, showcased WCC’s mission in an episode titled “The Pups That Saved the Veterans.” The episode was very well received, to-date, it has more than 215,000 views! Watch the video…
“A Day in the Life”
December 17, 2018 – What does “A Day in the Life” look like for Rick Yount, WCC founder and executive director? Find out in this article in The Native Influence.
Local service dog charities help military veterans with dogs like Sully
December 4, 2018 – BOYDS, Md. (ABC7) — Sully, President Bush’s service dog, was trained at America’s VetDogs. Its training facility in Long Island, New York. Sully will soon be reassigned to help veterans at Walter Reed National Military Hospital.
“How supportive that dog being there will be for all of those loved ones and family members who lost this great patriarch,” said Rick Yount, founder and Executive Director of Warrior Canine Connection. Watch the ABC 7 WJLA story here.
Warrior Canine Connection Receives $75,000 Grant from PetSmart Charities® to Bring the Healing Power of Pets to Veterans Through its Mission Based Trauma Recovery Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2018
BOYDS, Md. – Warrior Canine Connection knows that pets have the remarkable ability to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, improve our mood and bring us unconditional love. That’s why, with the help of a new $75,000 grant from PetSmart Charities, the organization is aiming to improve the quality of life for Veterans with combat wounds through its Mission Based Trauma Recovery Program (MBTR).
With this grant funding, Warrior Canine Connection will support its MBTR Program to enlist Service Members and Veterans to train service dogs for their fellow Veterans. The training model provides Veterans with a sense of purpose while they are in treatment at the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities and is designed to remediate their symptoms of combat stress, such as isolation, emotional numbness and re-experiencing. MBTR also harnesses the healing power of the Warrior Ethos in which Warriors train service dogs for fellow Veterans; through the process, they learn to focus on the dogs and their mission to help another Veteran.
“PetSmart Charities is a true leader and driver in support of the health and welfare of animals, and we are so grateful for their endorsement and support of our programs,” said Warrior Canine Connection Founder and Executive Director Rick Yount. “The emotional and physical support that service dogs provide to our Veterans is invaluable, and we’re excited to use this funding to help support our mission and to meet the growing need for Warrior support by training and providing highly skilled service dogs to our Veterans.”
Veterans who have participated in WCC’s unique form of canine-assisted therapy have reported that it has significantly improved their self-worth, peer relationships and family dynamics, among other positive attributes.
“As the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, we are committed to supporting programs that bring people and pets together,” said Sima Thakkar, regional relationship manager at PetSmart Charities. “The MBTR Program is a great example of how pets can enrich our lives and heal invisible and/or physical wounds. Thanks to our donor nationwide, we are proud to partner with the team at Warrior Canine Connection and support the expansion of this tremendous program that aims to improve the quality of life for so many Veterans.”
Last year alone, PetSmart Charities granted more than $1.8 million to support programs aimed at enhancing the quality of life for individuals through greater access to service animals and animal-assisted therapy programs. Funding from PetSmart Charities supports best practices that enhance the human-animal bond and finds forever homes and families for pets in need. For more information, visit www.PetSmartCharities.org.
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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, visitwww.warriorcanineconnection.org.
About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is committed to finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. Through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities helps to find forever homes and families for more than 500,000 shelter pets each year. PetSmart Charities also provides grant funding to nonprofits aligned with its mission under four key areas of support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets and Providing Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the PIN pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to fulfill its role as the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, granting almost $340 million since its inception in 1994. Independent from PetSmart Inc., PetSmart Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization that has received the Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator, a third-party organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 15 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
Find PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
See PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc
Media Contact:
Warrior Canine Connection 24-Hour PetSmart Charities
Beth Bourgeois Media Line: 623-587-2177
Media & Public Relations Officer719-216-3206
beth.bourgeois@warriorcanineconnection.org
Service dog training program helps veterans
November 30, 2018 – Warrior Canine Connection has teamed up with Buncombe County’s Veterans Treatment Court to offer a service dog training option for veterans involved with the criminal justice system. Read the Mountain Express article about the program here.
Warrior Canine Connection Receives $100,000 Grant from Boeing
BOYDS, Md. – Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) is pleased to announce it has received a $100,000 grant from Boeing (NYSE: BA) to support its service dog training program.
“Warrior Canine Connection is honored to have been selected to receive this generous support from Boeing,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, Warrior Canine Connection. “Boeing’s charitable efforts are not only making a positive impact on our nation’s Veterans but also on organizations the world over. Thank you, Boeing, for being a leader in the aerospace industry and in philanthropic giving.”
WCC uses a Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) therapy model designed as an intervention for combat Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress. The MBTR model provides Veterans with a sense of purpose while they are receiving treatment at Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. It is designed to remediate their symptoms of combat stress, such as isolation, emotional numbness and re-experiencing events from their combat days. MBTR also harnesses the healing power of the Warrior Ethos in which Warriors train service dogs for fellow Veterans; through the process, they learn to focus on the dogs and their mission to help another Veteran.
Warrior Canine Connection is one of 443 nonprofit organizations in 47 countries receiving grant funding from Boeing’s $55 million charitable grants package through 2019 and beyond. Included in the package is $13 million for Veterans’ recovery and rehabilitation programs and workforce transition service.
“Our people have unique skills and an unwavering passion for making a difference in the world, both through our products and services and the ways we give back to our communities,” said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and chief executive officer. “When that’s combined with our professional networks, partnerships and financial resources, we have the potential to drive positive, lasting change across the globe in important areas such as STEM learning and veterans’ support.”
A full list of Boeing’s grant partners can be found here.
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 THE BOEING COMPANY:
Through purposeful investments, employee engagement and thoughtful advocacy efforts, Boeing and its employees support innovative partnerships and programs that align with the company’s strategic objectives, create value and help build better communities worldwide. See how Boeing is making a difference by visiting the 2018 Boeing Global Engagement Portfolio at Boeing.com/community.
Chicago-based Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. Engage on social @Boeing with #BoeingInspires.
Warrior Canine Connection Launches Program in Asheville Veterans Treatment Court
Service Dog Training Program Helps Wounded Veterans Avoid Incarceration
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Warrior Canine Connection is offering a new program to support the Veterans Treatment Court in Asheville, North Carolina. Working with the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court, the WCC program utilizes service dog training as a community service option for Veterans involved with the criminal justice system.
“We are honored to be able to provide service dog training as a community service option in participation with the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court,” said Rick Yount, founder and executive director, Warrior Canine Connection. “Several Veteran participants have shared that they feel good about their volunteerism — helping to train the dogs but what they didn’t realize going in was just how much the training of the dogs would end up helping them. That’s a powerful testimonial to the impact these service dogs in training are having on our nation’s Veterans, and we’re thrilled to be providing this service in Asheville.”
The Asheville-based program marks the sixth WCC program working with Veteran Treatment Court programs, including four sites (Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) in California and in Baltimore. The VTC program utilizes WCC’s Mission Based Trauma Recovery (MBTR) model in which Veterans work to overcome the stress of combat by training service dogs for their fellow Veterans.
One Asheville participant shared the following thoughts on his participation in the VTC program:
“I love working with Clifford. As a combat-wounded Veteran, I have struggled physically (32 surgeries) and emotionally; to make human connections and to find my tribe after the Marines has been difficult. I think this is because I just don’t feel safe in my own skin, let alone around others. Working with Clifford, I feel normal. I feel like a person again. Who knew that working with these dogs would help me feel more like a human. Because of the work we are doing in WCC, I am able to speak to other people [now]. The best way to put it — Clifford keeps me calm. He is always happy to see me. And he responds to my moods. I am learning that I can control how I feel. And instead of being alone with my thoughts, I am often focusing on Clifford.”
Veterans involved in the courts are often required to complete a set number of community service hours. The dog training — offered through WCC — is one of the options on the docket. Training takes place on a weekly basis at the courthouse and Veterans can participate within the WCC program for the duration of their VTC commitment.
“I am so excited to have the VTC working with the Warrior Canine Connection,” said Honorable Judge Marvin Pope. “WCC (Amy and Clifford) has brought a new sense of joy into the courtroom that directly mirrors our non-punitive and supportive approach. I am seeing Veterans that are otherwise isolated and reserved (from unaddressed PTSD symptomatology) coming to life. Through this new modality, Veterans are learning critical skills of self-regulation, pro-social development and self-soothing. While we are training the service animal, it is actually a mutual process of growth and healing.”
The program teaches Veterans 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.
Starting in 2008, states and counties in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs created a system of Veterans Treatment Courts throughout the nation. To date, these VTCs have used treatment to help rehabilitate more than 10,000 Veterans with mental health and/or substance dependence and legal issues. Despite these efforts, tens of thousands of Veterans continue to need similar assistance.
For some Veterans, symptoms of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury can contribute to their misconduct, such as increased risk-taking, self-medication and other behavioral issues that result in their subsequent, and sometimes repeated, involvement in the criminal justice system.
The WCC VTC Program was developed and implemented thanks in part to a 2017 grant provided by the Bob Woodruff Foundation. The Foundation had provided a previous 2016 grant to WCC to oversee a feasibility plan to use service dogs as a community service option.
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, help in reintegrating back into their families and communities, and a potential career path as a service dog trainer. For more information, visit www.warriorcanineconnection.org.
About Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court
The mission of the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is to promote public safety through accountability and responsibility. The Veterans Treatment Court utilizes a non-adversarial, team approach to providing a host of mental health, addiction, trauma, behavioral, and psychosocial services and supports to veterans facing non-violent felony charges. We assist and support Veterans and their families as they move through a coordinated effort among the court and community-based Veteran services while improving their quality of life. Buncombe County is now on the cutting edge of recovery-based diversion court programs and serves as an example for criminal justice reform. Learn more by visiting www.buncombeveteranscourt.com. For more information, contact VTC Coordinator Kevin Rumley at (828) 259-6601.
Wounded vet, nonprofit and puppies help actors create authentic characters for new NBC show
November 19, 2018 – BOYDS, Md. — Puppies crawled over legs and laps, under chairs and knees, stretching to lick the faces of some of the cast and crew of the new NBC show “The Village” as they sat on the floor.
A small group from the show arrived at the headquarters of the nonprofit Warrior Canine Connection on Nov. 10 to get a better understanding of service dogs and their role in helping veterans. Read the complete Stars and Stripes story here.