Five years ago, mother of two Kimberly found herself in a life-altering situation. Over the course of 10 days, Kimberly’s pelvis began to fail. All three joints fell part, causing a great deal of pain and drastically limiting her mobility.
Like many of the people facing difficulties at the hands of a disability, Kimberly soon discovered that a well-trained service dog could be the answer. Enter Lovey, a gift from Freedom Service Dogs of America, the Colorado nonprofit that custom
-trains dogs from shelters and rescue groups to fit the exact disability of the individual in need. “There’s something really amazing that happens when service dogs are matched with their human partners,” says Michele Ostrander, the organization’s president and CEO.
In the case of Kimberly, the gift of her new service dog Lovey meant she could start moving around the house with more ease, get outdoors to watch her children play, and in an exciting turn of events, Kimberly, with the help of Lovely for stability, was able to travel to Alaska on her first family trip in years. “Lovey was so fantastic, pulling me up hills and helping me get to some amazing places I would have never seen in a wheelchair or with a cane,” said Kimberly.
“It feels fantastic to hear stories like Kimberly’s. We know these partnerships changes lives, and we wish we could do more,” said Jon Hughes, chairman of the board of directors for Freedom Service Dogs. “As more people learn about the life-changing gift of a service dog, we have seen a major increase in demand, and today have more than 50 individuals on the waiting list.”
To help meet this growing demand, Freedom Service Dogs will soon relocate to a new facility that will allow it to double its capacity, but the organization needs community support to transform the facility into usable space. A capital campaign to raise a much-needed $2 million is currently underway. Together with the Anschutz Foundation, the Freedom Service Dogs board of directors is offering a challenge gift of $500,000 for all gifts pledged or received by April 30, 2016. The organization has received $350,000 so far, and is seeking community support to raise an additional $150,000 in order to receive the matching gift. All donations will be matched dollar for dollar.
This phase of growth will allow Freedom Service Dogs to double the number of clients served, reduce the amount of time clients wait to be matched, reduce kennel stress among dogs in training and improve the success rate of service dogs and their human partners.“We are beyond grateful to our supporters who have generously donated to help us realize our dream of moving to a new location, and are hopeful that the challenge gift will encourage others to give as well,” said Ostrander. “This will create a lasting impact for the rescue dogs and individuals living with disabilities, like Kimberly, who we will serve in the future.”
Tax-deductible donations can be made by visiting https://freedomservicedogs.org/donate/tail-of- transformation/ or by calling 303-922-6231.