Paws4people, Inc. Awarded Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program Grant

by Kathy Grear 11/20/2015

WILMINGTON, NC — paws4people, Inc. was awarded $106,000 by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences for the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program (WWSDP). The WWSDP, a competitive grant pilot program for non-profit Assistance Dog organizations that serve Veterans and Service Members with psychological and physical disabilities, was established by the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, which included $1 million in Defense Health Program funding.

In 2008, paws4people implemented its paws4vets program, which is dedicated to providing therapeutic canine interventions to Veterans, Service Members, and military dependents. The program’s mission is to provide healing and hope to Veterans and Service Members and their families struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS), Chronic/Complex PTS (C-PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Military Sexual Trauma (MST), Moral Injury, and other neurological, psychological, and/or physical disabilities. The paws4vets clients receive cutting-edge Intervention Transfer Training, peer-to-peer support, and the support of the entire paws4people organization for the working life of the Assistance Dog.

Paws4people is an Assistance Dogs International (ADI) candidate, and adheres to and/or exceeds all ADI minimum standards and ethics. All Assistance Dog teams are required to recertify annually to ensure that the highest level of quality training is being maintained for the career of each Assistance Dog.

It costs paws4people approximately $36,000 to train and place an Assistance Dog through its paws4vets Program. The WWSDP funds will support operational expenses associated with the training and placement of highly-trained Assistance Dogs with Veterans and Active Duty Service Members during the period October 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016.

Terry Henry, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chief Operations Officer of paws4people, who has overseen the training and placement of every Assistance Dog with a paws4vets client, stated: “There are 22 Veterans dying from suicide every day. paws4vets has been helping dozens of Veterans and Service Members each year. With the WWSDP funds, we move one step closer to our goal of helping hundreds of Veterans and Service Members each year.” For more information about our paws4vets program go to: http://paws4people.org/our-programs/paws4vets-placement-program/ To apply for an Assistance Dog, go to https://paws4people.org/apply/

Paws4people was founded in 1999. In the ensuing 16 years, paws4people has placed nearly 500 highly-trained Assistance and Facility Dogs providing support in areas such as mobility and psychiatric service, educational and rehabilitative assistance, and social therapy. Paws4people has more than 200 volunteers and operates in 24 states, placing dogs with nationwide consideration. Together, our dogs have made more than 1,000,000 therapeutic contacts. Learn more online at http://paws4people.org/. Connect with paws4people on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/paws4people and on Twitter at @p4pfoundation. •