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Our Mission |
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Lend A Heart volunteers and their pets are dedicated to sharing love and comfort through well-trained, certified animal-assisted therapy teams. Every interaction facilitates the improvement of the client's overall well-being. We meet our mission with integrity, quality and commitment. Services for Those in Physical Rehabilitation We provide services to physical rehabilitation facilities. Our teams help to motivate and encourage individuals who need to exercise various parts of their bodies in order to recover. Tossing a ball, petting or brushing a dog are all ways to facilitate movement in a manner that is fun and allows the patient to enjoy physical therapy a bit more. This type of interaction encourages the healing process. Services for Those in Resident Care Facilities Many of the facilities we visit are Assisted Living, Convalescent or Skilled Nursing facilities. Resident individuals can be discouraged, depressed and/or frightened, becoming solitary and emotionally detached often welcome a visit from therapy teams, allowing them the opportunity to of companionship with a dog and social interaction with the handler. Occasionally, the move to an assisted living or caregiving residence means giving up the beloved family pet. Lend A Heart visits make the environment more like home and help to change troubled attitudes, which, in turn, can assist them to open up to staff and others. Services for Children We visit school, library, shelter, and hospital programs for children. These children are presented with unconditional love, kindness, friendship and trust by Lend A Heart animals and volunteers. Some of our special needs children have been abused and have strong trust issues. They may also have a history of violence themselves. With the consistent involvement of Lend A Heart, the children's communication and social skills have improved and they have learned how to love and treat other living beings with respect. Our visits with children may include instruction in appropriate behaviors and interactions with another person's dog, demonstrations of basic obedience skills and/or a few pet tricks. Read to the dog programs, at public libraries, help children to build confidence in their reading skills by reading aloud to the LAH dog and volunteer. Dogs give unconditionally. Many children are able to accept this trust and translate it to other areas of their life.
Facility Application Are you interested in Lend A Heart visiting in your facility? Please download and mail our Facility Application.
If you would like to make a donation to Lend A Heart Lend A Hand please make checks payable to "Lend A Heart" and mail to: |
