Hand in Paw Newsletter - Fall 2022

2022 FALL NEWSLETTER

GOLDEN

Could you be a Hand in Paw

Therapy Team?

Tuscaloosa Therapy Teams

Come, Sit, Stay, Read

Picasso Pets FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Thank You for a

Pawesome Summer!

Birmingham had a wonderful summer! With the World Games, a new energy came to town and people returned to post-Covid activities, like travel and volunteer service. This is good for our city and great for Hand in Paw. New Therapy Teams joined us in both Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Are you interested in volunteering with your pet? Come talk to us! We have a waiting list for our AnimalAssisted Therapy services and need more Therapy Teams! Visit opportunities include many at Children’s of Alabama, UAB clinics, Assisted-living facilities, schools, special needs centers and after-school programs. There are weekend and evening opportunities, as well as day-time visits.

HIP also launched our new summer reading program called “Come, Sit, Stay, Read” in June. Almost 100 children came over the course of the summer to read with HIP Teams that are specially trained to work with struggling readers. Seeing kids, dogs, adults and books in the Lasker

Training Center gave us joy! Your support makes this possible. Thank you!

Picasso Pets was the highlight of our summer. It was great to see many old friends and make new ones. Thank you to those of you who were able to support our largest fundraiser which supports our mission to improve human health and wellbeing through Animal-Assisted Therapy!

I hope you enjoy reading more about how your support makes an impact at Hand in Paw in this edition of Golden. Please let me know if I can answer any questions – or if you have suggestions on how Hand in Paw can best serve our community.

Margaret Stinnett Executive Director

rt Your suppo one ves improves li ime wag at a t ! u - thank yo

Thanks to Our Picasso Pets Sponsors: VP Funds, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Dr. Jim & Katie Lasker, Mr. & Mrs. Scott Vowell, Medical Properties Trust, John 3:16, Lynn & Benny LaRussa, UAB Medicine, Kay Aldridge, Southern Company, Southern Power, Haynes & Haynes Attorneys at Law, Creative Dog Training, Hot and Hot Fish Club, George W. Barber Jr. Foundation, OvenBird, ABC 33/40, Poarch Creek Indians, EBSCO Industries, Dr. Susan & Rick Nelms, Jennifer Buettner Bates, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Melanie & Donald Lewis, Adams & Reese, LLP, Alabama Art Supply, Birmingham Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Brittney & Clay Clark, Children’s of Alabama, Deborah Michelle Photography, Dustin Massey Photography, Encompass Health, Land Rover Birmingham, Randy Newlin, Thompson Foundation, Top Dog Birmingham

What will your legacy be?

To leave a gift in your will or from your insurance, contact Beth Franklin beth@handinpaw.org

Hand in Paw Needs YOU and Your Furry Friends, Too! You and your pet can bring comfort and joy to those who need it most!

As we near the end of 2022 and reflect on all the great programs and mission moments that happened this year, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for our donors and volunteer Therapy Teams. Our mission to improve human health and well-being through Animal-Assisted Therapy is made possible only through you – you are our backbone!

Thanks to your support, Hand in Paw currently has 65 active Therapy Teams making therapeutic visits to the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa community, but we are facing a problem. The number of Therapy Teams we have is simply not enough to grow and visit the program partners on our waiting list. To truly expand, we need to train more new Therapy Teams each year than the number of current teams who retire or need to take volunteering breaks.

With the help of our Board of Directors and guidance from long-serving Hand in Paw Therapy Teams, we’ve made positive changes to our volunteer training cycle to make the process as fast, effective and supportive as possible while maintaining our high standards of service. Our hope is that these changes allow us to recruit and train qualified Therapy Teams faster so we can expand our reach and visit more people in need!

Miranda Hart is a brand-new Therapy Team who completed our updated volunteer training this Summer with her therapy dog partner, Kaz. Here is what she had to say about her experience:

“If I had to describe HIP in a few words it would be ‘supportive, encouraging, and fun.’

My golden retriever, Kaz Kaz and I began the application process in May and did four weeks of training to prepare for our evaluation. It was very helpful and fun, and I was even allowed to schedule extra times to come practice with some of their staff - everyone was nothing but supportive.

Evaluation day came! Of course, I was nervous, but I also felt very prepared.

The participants and evaluator were encouraging and kind. The evaluation was done before I knew it, and EVERYONE in the room celebrated with me.

They say Hand in Paw is a family and I 100% agree. Kaz and I look forward to bringing many people joy with the assistance of Hand in Paw.” At Hand in Paw, comfort has 4 legs, a wet nose, and a golden scarf.

Do you have a 4-legged friend that you think would make a great therapy dog? Please visit our website at handinpaw.org/volunteer to learn more and submit an application!

To help Hand in Paw recruit and train more Therapy Teams, please make a donation using the envelope provided or visit handinpaw.org/donate.

Our mission to improve human health & well-being is made possible through you!

Do you meet our basic Therapy Team requirements?

• Dog is 18 months or older • Must have owned dog for more than 6 months • You and your dog have completed a basic group obedience course

Questions?

Email Stephanie Stoltzner at stephanie@handinpaw.org

Miranda & Kaz visiting at Danberry at Inverness

Hand in Paw is grateful to VP Funds for making the HIP Activity Book come to life!

You keep the

Joy Coming!

How your support helps spread joy, even after a Hand in Paw visit has ended.

A visit from a Hand in Paw Therapy Team can be so beneficial for children! From helping a child achieve academic and educational goals in the classroom, to providing an empathetic paw to a child going through difficult physical and mental challenges - the benefits are innumerable. But how can Hand in Paw continue to provide comfort and joy to kids once a visit has ended? Well, thanks to a generous grant from VP Funds and your continued support, a fun, customillustrated Activity Book was designed and produced to help do just that!

The Hand in Paw Activity Book has 6 engaging activities for kids to enjoy! Each activity features adorable illustrations that relate to Hand in Paw’s mission, programs, and Therapy Teams. The first round of activity books that were produced through the support of VP Funds went to our friends at Children’s of Alabama!

Mary H., Child Life Specialist at Children’s of Alabama notes the impact of the activity book after a visit with therapy dog Kenzi, “So many of my patients love spending time with Kenzi!

The activity book is an added bonus as it allows them to get to know more about other Hand in Paw dogs and it gives them a keepsake to remember the precious time they spent with Kenzi.”

With your donations, we will be able to add new activities to this joy-filled book every year and give them to even more children and program partners! Thank you for helping spread joy even after a HIP visit has ended!

You can help fund the production of more Hand in Paw Activity Books by donating using the envelope provided or by visiting handinpaw.org/donate

A Summer for the Books!

During the summer months, many school children experience what is commonly called the “summer slide” and return to school having lost some of the knowledge they gained the previous school year. But thanks to your generosity, Hand in Paw Therapy Teams were able to help combat this problem by hosting a free summer reading program for the first time at our campus!

The reading initiative was called Come, Sit, Stay Read! and was open to K-5th grade students. During the program, students had 30-minute one-on-one reading sessions with Therapy Teams and experienced the joy and positive motivation that reading to a nonjudgmental furry friend provides.

Heather Messer, local 3rd grade teacher states, “This was a wonderful program to get struggling readers to come out of their shell. I saw my own two children and was in awe watching the joy reading to Fletcher brought to them!”

In total, 95 students participated in the summer Come, Sit, Stay, Read! program - This success was made possible because of you! Thank you for helping local students start the 2022-2023 school year on the right paw!

To support Hand in Paw’s Animal-Assisted Education initiatives, please make a donation using the envelope provided.