Hope was asked by Lisa Powell to bring our dogs to provide stress relief for her staff who have been working on this coronavirus situation. Oh My, we were so welcomed and so needed! That department has been working 24/7. They are constantly having to adjust their plans as new announcements happen. When Lisa saw what a huge comfort our dogs were to her staff, she asked our escort to take us to a couple of other departments who are also involved. Again and again, we were welcomed with "you have made my day!". HOPE may be asked to take our dogs to the EOC next week.

Lisa Powell was actually the speaker at the VOAD meeting which Janice and I attended last Thursday. Interestingly El Paso County was is pretty good shape then. It's quickly changing as was expected. Lisa stressed (besides hand washing) that we look at credible websites, like the CDC, and not depend on the media. VOAD is suggesting to all the members that they encourage their communities to be real communities by checking on neighbors.
After the meeting, a few of us stayed for a hands only CPR class given by Sally Blanchard with the Red Cross. It's not a certification class, but a review. Janice and I both thought it was good. Sally mentioned that she can give this class to small groups. That may be something for us to keep in mind for a future meeting or workshop.

We were asked to go to the school as one of the coach's son was involved in a tragic accident. We were set up in the entry way to the girls school. This was a much better place than the big hall we were in on the previous visit. The students were very respectful and polite. I heard many "Oh this just made my day so much better" and "I so much needed this today".

Two girls were tickled to find out one of them had the same birthday as Sarah and the other one had the same birthday as Keeper.

Copper and I were asked to support students and staff, following a student death at Berthoud HS. Since Copper and I have responded to this school on several occassions, a few of the students recognized us. We were set up with several social workers from the district in a meeting room. Copper had his own area and it became clear that several students came in to see him and otherwise would not have entered the room or stayed to talk with other staff.

The 50th Space Wing at Schriever AFB in Colorado Springs is a component of U.S. Space Force and home to 8000 men and women dedicated to our safety and protection. We visit them once a month as part of a Violence Prevention, stress release opportunity. After getting base passes we were escorted to a non-restricted building and were welcomed by many staff, so happy to see our dogs again. They asked questions about HOPE and thanked us repeatedly for the ongoing visits. From there we entered a restricted area building and Jessica positioned us in a high traffic hallway where the dogs were available to anyone going to the cafeteria. She initiated the program at Schriever and steadily 'tweaks' our visit to achieve the best opportunity for the most airmen to engage. Like a joyous carnival barker she would solicit anyone in earshot to take a minute for a "pet break". Additionally she recorded the actual number of contacts made which is a big help to us and also helps validate the program to her superiors. She's a delight and so very eager to make our HOPE visits count. Many of the men and women asked for the dog's trading cards, wanting to add to their collection from previous visits. We felt very proud and privileged to watch Lyrrik and Grace be of service at this very fast paced, dedicated facility.

HOPE was asked to assist the CERT's Critical Incident Debriefing Team to provide comfort to several agency members who responded to a traffic fatality. Kayak and I greeted the attendees when they arrived. This set a positive tone for the afternoon's debriefing. Kayak approached every member at different times during the debriefing. A few even quietly called her over to them. She also chose to lie very close to two members who did not object when I asked if Kayak was too close because she was almost lying on their feet. However, this did allow the two to pet her even more. Once the debrief was over, a few still interacted with Kayak.

Fortunately, there was no crisis to respond to. This was one of our lunchtime meet and greets. We were greeted enthusiastically by the office staff and the POC, Laurie Carson who is the SRO. We were escorted to a small conference room where we were able to store our backpacks. Laurie also provided lunch for us.
We began our time with students in the counseling office and then we moved into the lunch room. There are two lunch periods and we had a nice break in between when we got to eat our lunch and have some downtime.

Keeper and I visited the CSPD Operations center. We had lots of great interactions. One lady in the crime lab said our timing was perfect as they had just received some bad news. Another woman said we really made her day so much better. We met the mother of one of the detectives who was volunteering there. She said the job she was doing was difficult and she appreciated the break that Keeper gave her.

HOPE Teams were asked to bring our dogs to support to the Yellow Ribbon Event in Denver. We arrive early, set up and the dogs were welcome by all. Karen Klein received an emergency phone call . Her and Sarah left after lunch. Janice and Lucas along with Grace did an excellent job in the afternoon. We were so happy to have a team lead with us.

Three L'Anse, Michigan, students were involved in a vehicle incident around 4:15 P.M. on Monday, Feb., 17, 2020. Two Senior boys were found dead in a parked car along side of the road. The third student, a Junior girl, was found unconscious. She was sent to the hospital. Four HOPE teams arrived on the second day after the incident. After meeting the principal, superintendent, and counselors, we staged our teams at two entrances as the students entered that morning. The elementary students were quite overwhelming because all K-12 students entered through the same two doors, except for the students who drove vehicles.
The first day consisted of all four of us being asked to go to various rooms, whether it was to counselor offices or classrooms. We were often pulled to more than one place from elementary to middle to high school rooms, which was at times exhausting. When the counselors from the school and the Intermediate School District met after school to debrief, it was decided to reorganize the situation. For day two, there would be only three rooms set up with counselors and one dog team for each. One room was for the Juniors and Seniors who received permission to go, where Nick & Kayak attended. The second room was for the Sophomores and Freshmen where Karen & Charles attended. The third room was for grades 6-8 where Julia & Ischgl attended. Having just three teams available, this worked out well. Also having the students sign in and out plus touching base with their teachers made the flow of students work much smoother. It gave all counselors a chance to work with the groups and with individual students.
Besides dealing with the death of two boy students, the staff and students were grappling with the unknown condition of a girl in the hospital, The news that second day was very grim. The chance of her coming out of her coma and living was very bleak. The tone in the whole school was quietly painful and stressful.
At noon on the second day, to many, a miracle happened. It was announced that the girl had woken up and was coherent. The atmosphere in the whole school totally reversed. Suddenly there was an uplifted atmosphere of smiles and talking and even laughter. Now our dogs definitely brought many smiles, petting and cuddles, but this good news seemed to bring hope to everyone. The cause of the two deaths and the third's unconsciousness is still under investigation.

West Yellowstone Public School (K - 12) requested a follow up visit as Nancy and Yuki did such a great job on 2/14/2020. Gail and I met with the principal and the counselor from Bozeman when we arrived. They requested we visit the 8th grade, as the uncle of the 12 year old victim (who has been charged with deliberate homicide along with the victim's grandparents) was a student in the 8th grade. They also requested we visit the 6th grade, as this was the class the victim attended until September, 2019.
We were very warmly received and welcomed by everyone. Gail and I spent time in both classes just walking around the classrooms and letting the students pet and greet Lamar and Maggie. The teachers in each room continued teaching as we walked around.
Gail and I then split up - with Gail and Lamar going into several classrooms and roaming the halls. I went back to the office with Maggie and sat in with the counselor who was meeting with 3 family members. This was an emotional session for everyone. Maggie and I spent most of our time between the two young people and some time with the adult. At the end of the session all of them hugged me and thanked me and, of course, hugged Maggie.
Maggie and I went back to a third grade and spent time in a circle answering questions about HOPE and Maggie. ("How does your dog know if you are happy or sad?") The children were delightful. As we were walking down the hall we were stopped by a 2nd grade teacher who requested we visit as there was "some sadness in the room". Again the children were in a circle and they all spent time petting Maggie and asking questions. At the end of our time the children all gathered around Maggie and petted and hugged her. I was proud of Maggie - she gets anxious when she is surrounded but she handled the attention well.
At this point we had been in the school for 3 hours and both dogs were tired. We had a final request to visit a 5th grade which we did. Both dogs were welcomed and petted and hugged some more.
Throughout our stay both teams interacted with staff and students we met in the hallways. Again, everyone was gracious and appreciative for our visit.
There is a funeral and community vigil planned for this coming Sunday.

This is a monthly support group HOPE attends. Timmy and I hadn't been in 2 months so it was nice to see everyone. Got to hear updates on justice process. One woman was very excited that the police were able to finally unlock her son's phone which hopefully will aid in catching his killers. Timmy as usual moved from one person to another never neglecting anyone

We were asked to attend Dentistry of the heart in Billings. While doing my research I learned that Dentistry of the Heart is actually a nonprofit organization that provides free dental services to those who can't afford them around the world. Many volunteers come together to make these events happen. Gail and I met at the event and there was a tent where people first registered and then waited. There were two buildings where the services were actually being done. The volunteers would call people in groups of 10 to go to the building and then they would wait in the reception area until their turn. We moved between the tent, and the two buildings to offer the dogs to people waiting and the volunteers also loved the dogs. We had lots of wonderful interactions and many people loved to talk about their pets at home.

We were asked to come to the West Yellowstone Public School (K-12) to work with students and staff following the announcement of the arrest of three individuals in connection with the murder of a 12 year old boy. The community is small and close-knit and the school is limited regarding resources for this sort of tragedy. There were almost 10 counselors from Bozeman area schools who came to help out with students and staff. We met up with most of the counselors and Marilyn King, who was doing organizing work, in a resource room where they were mapping out the plan for the day. At first, Yuki and I went with 4 counselors to the 7th grade classroom so we could be introduced and students could be encouraged to seek out counselors in several available meeting rooms. After that, Yuki and I remained in that room for the 7th graders and the 8th graders who came in later. When they went to p.e. class, we walked the halls and entered several classrooms to interact with students in various grades. We were asked to stay a little longer in one classroom because several of the students needed more individual interaction with Yuki. When we were back in the hallway, a teacher/aide came by with a young student who was sad and needed time with Yuki. The student stayed with us for about 15 minutes, talking to Yuki and talking about finding out that she had had a sister who died at age 5, before this young girl was born. It seemed like she had been told only recently about her sister's birth and death. When students were changing locations, such as going to p.e., outside for recess, or to or from lunch, we interacted with many of them while they were at their lockers and in the halls. We also interacted with a number of staff members as they came and went. We checked in with the resource room and were asked to visit the 6th grade class, which we did. The counselors with whom I visited said things had been pretty quiet, with not a lot of students leaving classes to talk with them. By this time, Yuki was pretty tired, although I had taken him outside for a break and given him water a couple of times, and it was about 1:30, so we said we were going to leave. The staff and counselors were grateful for our presence, and the students did a lot of hugging of Yuki.

We were called to comfort children and staff after a Teacher Aide Death. The aide had worked at the school for 18 years in the Kindergarten classroom so all the children in the school had had her as their aide at one time. We were on the playground for their recess and then we traveled from classroom to classroom visiting from the Preschool kids through the 6th grade. We visited the Kindergarten room where the aide helped teach last. The children and staff were very appreciative of the dogs. Minda walked with us to each room and introduced us to each teacher. The children were very gentle with the dogs and the entire visit went very well.

A semi-truck tragically, killed a six year old boy who was standing on the corner near his elementary school. Falcon Hill Elementary asked us to attend the school this morning. Sheryl with Maxx and I with Cinder attended five or six classrooms, K-3rd grade, to comfort the students and teachers involved. I'm not sure the children understood the gravity of the situation, however, the adults did. Regardless, everyone enjoyed the dogs.

A student from the school and her mother were killed in the helicopter crash. A set of twins from the family also attend the school. Personnel from Saint Margaret's requested support from HOPE for the week. Today our team focused on the middle school students. The students were very enthusiastic about the HOPE teams presence the moment they saw them. All of the students were keen on collecting the dogs' trading cards. The two teams were set up in the foyer of the counseling office and students stopped by during their lunch break to visit with the dogs. Some also received permission from their teachers to leave class for a specified amount of time to interact with the HOPE dogs.

Copper and I were asked to respond to support staff members following a student death. We arrived before school and met briefly with 2 teachers. They were preparing their classroom for the day but would come over and talk to Copper every few minutes. We spoke briefly about the student they lost. We planned to have any students come visit with Copper as they started their day. We felt that may bring a different focus to the day and limit any questions students had about the death. The teachers appreciated having something else to focus on. Parents were asked at the door if their child could visit with Copper. Out of the 12 students, we only had 2 that came to visit. Students ranged in age from 3-4 years old and had a set routine in the morning that included breakfast. We had several students that waved to us from the breakfast table. Towards the end of breakfast, the teacher thanked us for coming. We had several students stop us in the hallway as we were exiting the early childhood classrooms and heading back to the main office. They were all very excited to see a dog at school and everyone asked before interacting with Copper.

We were called in by our local CO SCR VOAD leadership to the command center that was set up in a church parking lot, near where an 11 year old boy disappeared from his home. This is an especially charged disappearance in this close knit community. We joined groups of Search and Rescue teams from many counties, the El Paso County Sheriff Department, and other agencies, as they gathered for the morning briefings. Dawn and I were there for the morning shift and were asked if we would like to join one of the search parties to help spread out in a search area. Since the base camp would soon be mostly empty, we checked with our RD to assure we could join. We walked 5 miles over some rough terrain, but it was very enlightening as to what happens on a search and rescue mission. When we returned to the base camp, Lee and Stacy were there to start their shift. They were told by the site lead for the El Paso County Sheriff, that they would have to leave because HOPE was officially not supposed to be there. It had not been cleared by our contact agency, which was the CO SCR VOAD. Also, search dogs were going to be coming for the afternoon shift and they felt the distraction of our dogs might lead to a non-productive situation. They were very apologetic to us, and said they would have loved for us to actually go over and visit with the family of the lost child, with the dogs, but we have to follow protocol and it had not been followed by the CO SCR VOAD.

HOPE was invited to attend a memorial service for one of the Kobe Bryant crash victims, and 8th grade student , Alyssa, at Ensign middle school.
The school population is roughly 1200 with an 8th grade population of 600. In addition to the 8th grade class attending, many of the club team members and associates attended. The memorial service was held in the gym and many students, friends, her coach, and the basketball team spoke. It was a highly charged emotional event with lots of hugs and tears. By luck, Fargo and I ended up sitting right in the middle of the girls basketball team during the service. Several of the girls sobbed uncontrollably, reaching out to hold Fargo and bury their face in his fur. After the service, we were asked to stay to visit with the guests from the club team as well as the school team. Many of the adults were having a difficult time dealing with the loss of such a young person. Many of Alyssa's teammates went to each of the dogs multiple times for comfort. After staying behind with the guests and team, we were asked to go to the different rooms where counselors were stationed. Muffin and Robbie were a big hit, as students got down on the floor and lay next to them. The two smaller dogs, Fargo and Mariah, were each at a group table where they could be passed around and held by different individuals.
When we entered the rooms, there was a definite sense of grief filling the room, but by the time we said goodbye to the students, we saw many smiles and received many thanks from the students and staff.

The Los Angeles Coroner's Office made a specific request to Hope to have the team of Linda Teahen and Calvin (familiar with their staff for over a year now) to make a visit in response to their heightened stress level and workload from the recent helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant and 8 other victims. The staff were affected on a deeper level than usual due to the nature of the tragedy along with the victims involved. Linda and Calvin rotated throughout each division allowing Calvin to interact with all employees as long as they needed. It was an unannounced visit (as opposed to our monthly visits as a Pet Partners team) which made the interactions even more personal and appreciated by their staff. Many of their staff commented that "this was just what they needed" and look forward to Calvin's visits.

The STEM school had a fatal shooting last May and so they have a lock down drill to practice what to do in case of an active shooter, or ??? emergency. While this is good to practice it causes the students to revisit their fears and grief. When we entered the building we were escorted to the office where we sat in a darkened inner room while the drill took place. Afterwards we met with students of the middle school and high school. At the high school where I was we were in an area close to the cafeteria with couches. A teacher allowed 5 or so students in at a time. This was great as the dogs weren't overwhelmed and the students got to spend more individual time with the dogs. There were two girls in particular that were extremely upset and crying. They stayed longer and by the end were no longer crying and were smiling!

Mari and others commented that this was a pretty heavy week, and that they needed pet therapy. We probably got more Thank yous than usual.

This event was at an elementary school in rural Barryton, MI, 30 miles east of Big Rapids. A second grader died from a brain tumor over the weekend; a psychologist and behaviorist were at the school Monday and Tuesday and they requested HOPE teams for half a day Wednesday. The teams greeted the kids being dropped off by parents and on buses, and we deployed in the library where all the classes were brought according to a scheduled the principal had made.

At about 11:30 am, we received a call to respond to OCC to help comfort the baseball players due to the tragic death of their coach. The coach, his wife and daughter had been killed, the day before, in a helicopter crash. We were asked to comfort the players, and staff, before practice. HOPE Teams started to arrive at about 12:15 pm. We were warmly greeted by the POC and staff. Teams were allowed to mingle with the team in the dugout. I also met with the Dean of OCC and the father of the coach who was killed. They were all very appreciative of our presence. Once the team started their practice, HOPE members left.

HOPE was asked to deploy to St. Margaret’s Episcopal School. One of their students, and her mother, a Board member had died in the helicopter crash that also took Kobe Bryant. The girl, a 8th grader and her twin 10th grade brothers attend the school. This deployment covered four days. Upon arrival every day, the trams were spilt between the lower school, middle school and upper school. There were teams in the counselors office at all times. They first two days found the students to be distraught. There was no down time and breaks for the dogs had to be carved out. As the week went on, it was apparent that the students were adjusting to the loss. Fewer and fewer students were in the counseling office. On Friday, things were very slow, as we only saw students on their breaks and at lunch. It was apparent to us that the dogs were doing their jobs well. All students were very polite and appreciative, collectin and sharing the cards. Pet partners dogs and mini horses were also there each day. For the most part, they respected our request to stay separated. It was extremely rewarding to see how much help the dogs were to the most affected students. This was especially true for me as this is my home church.

Three teen-agers were killed in a road rage incident following a teen-age prank. HOPE AACR was asked to respond prior to the Memorial Service. The teams arrived and immediately began drawing attention of the attendees; many asked for details about the dogs and what kind of work they do. It was a wonderful opportunity to share details about HOPE and to distribute the cards. The handlers and the dogs remained outside of the sanctuary and left the site about an hour after the Memorial Service began. Many of the attendees seemed most appreciative of the opportunity to seek comfort at a very stressful time.

This event was for military families during their pre and post deployment periods. We were there on Friday, which was the day for families to register for meetings and events to be held throughout the weekend. We were given a table towards the end of the hallway, which was not ideal for attracting people to visit with our dogs. We did get some families with children who were excited to get trading cards and take pictures with the dogs. It was pretty low-key, so during down time we visited with other groups who had tables set up to offer other services.

The high school football coach collapsed and died in the gymnasium on 1/22. Some students were present. HOPE teams were requested on 1/23 for arrival on 1/24. Teams met briefly with the school principal to plan initial strategies. We later met with the counselors throughout the day. As is our usual plan, we staged for a "meet and greet" at two main entrances to the school. Since this was the second full day of school after the death, things began to return to normal during the day. We met students in the hallways between classes, staged in classrooms, and in offices where necessary. In one instance, a student needed counseling and comfort for her step-father who was diagnosed the day before with a terminal illness. We facilitated her counseling.

During our debrief at the end of the day, the feedback was very positive. The counselors felt that the dogs were integral to the healing process.

Request put out to visit a child who's parent had passed away. No other details given. I was available to drive to school this morning and met the Director Lea Ghishan in the front lobby. She showed Maxx and I to a conference room and returned a few minutes later with the student.
We were left to ourselves and we chatted (or rather he did most of the chatting) for about an hour. He loves dogs and enjoyed sitting on the floor and giving Maxx lots of attention. He appeared in fairly good spirits and talked non-stop to me about lots of things!
Very sweet, polite and SMART young man.... who politely thanked me for "doing this" for him when we left. I gave him a few of Maxx's cards so he could give one to his older sisters too.

On Tuesday @ about 8:30 pm, I was contacted by Stephanie of the OCDE CRN. She requested HOPE respond to Columbus Middle School due to the death of a respected teacher. She originally requested HOPE respond on Thursday. On Wednesday morning at about 6:55 am, she requested HOPE respond on Wednesday at 8:00 am. I was able to respond at 10:15 am. Henry and I visited the "counseling room", the teachers P.E. Class (Gym) and the Teachers Staff Lounge. At 1:00 pm, we concluded the visit. Due to our visit on Wednesday, Thursdays scheduled visit was cancelled.

MT teams were called the evening of 1/20 on our availability to drive to Hardin High School early the next morning to comfort students and staff traumatized by the recovery of the body of 16-year old girl, who had been missing since New Year's Day. The community had been very involved in looking for her for 3 weeks. Autopsy results are pending.

We arrived at 8:30 a.m. and were met by Chad Johnson and other school personnel, as well as a counselor, 2 FBI agents and a top official with the Indian Health Service. After check-in they escorted us to the library where we began interacting with students and staff. There was a aura of sadness permeating the school but also occasional laughter of kids just being kids. Staff were very caring and gave them the opportunity to deal with this tragedy in their own way. The principal made announcements, about the counselors and dogs being there for them. Some of the girls were involved in creating beautiful posters commemorating the student. There were also photos and information about her around the school. We basically wandered into various rooms and the gym and were in the halls during class changes. We asked students if they wanted to pet the dogs and most did; some, especially some girls, were very emotional, trying to hold back the tears. Many students and staff simply stopped, hugged and petted the dogs in the rooms/hallways. We expressed our condolences and said the dogs were there to give them comfort. They seemed very grateful to have us there.

News people were not allowed in the school but did interview and film us outside.

On Friday,1/17/20, HOPE was contacted by the Oconto Unified School District School Psychologist requesting HOPE teams for 1/21-1/22. They had received word that 3 students (6th, 8th & 9th grader) had perished in a house fire along with their mother and family pet. An Action Item was put out and 4 teams responded. On 1/21, two teams were assigned to the high school (HS) and two teams were assigned to the middle school(MS). All 4 teams greeted student as they entered their respective schools. First hour, grades were gathered in individual room and an announcement was made about the student deaths and where students could talk to counselors or spend time with the comfort dogs. In the HS, the teams were assigned to the Library and counselor's office. In the MS, teams were assigned to the 6th grade wing, ALR room, or counselor offices. All teams greeted students in the halls between classes if they were not comforting students. On 1/22, 2 teams were assigned to the HS and 2 teams to the MS. One team left at noon, which left one team at the HS. More time was spent in individual classrooms in the MS and in the HS; teams spent more time in the library or counselors area. At the end of the day, HOPE had their own debrief in the MS office.

HOPE supports Parents of Murdered Children's monthly support meeting.

A nine-year-old boy had been killed by a semi when his father's truck was stopped by the side of the road the night before. We were asked to come to this rural school, which only has 84 students, K-12. Yuki and I arrived at 9:15 and interacted with a few teachers, aides, and the superintendent. An announcement was made over the P.A. that Yuki had arrived and about 25 students came to the reception area and interacted with Yuki. Several were crying, hugging each other, and hugging and petting Yuki. Several staff members and students said they remembered Yuki from previous visits. We had been there at least three times before, in similar situations. One student even remembered me, which was a surprise. We expect them to recognize our dogs sometimes, but not us. We went to several of the elementary classrooms, where students were mostly doing craft projects or playing board games, for distraction. They were all glad to see Yuki. Apparently students were flexible regarding their schedules that day, and they were allowed to go home with permission from a parent. Students came into the gym to play with basketballs and volleyballs, and we hung around there to visit with anyone who was interested. Starting at 11:30, the elementary students went to the lunch, and the older students went to lunch at about noon. We stayed out of the lunchroom, and visited with students and staff who were in the halls. One older student told me he thought we had left and someone was bringing his two ranch dogs to the school for the students. I said we would try to stay out of those dogs' way, and a staff person asked him to hang with the older students, while we visited with the younger students. After lunch, we went to the 2nd grade class, where the young boy belonged, and the 5 students were sharing memories of the student who had been killed. After sitting with them for a short while, we left at about 12:45. We also made contacts with the Madison County Sheriff's Department Chaplains, who were experiencing the HOPE dogs for the first time. We have no teams in Madison County so the Chaplain was not aware of us. It was a good experience, but a sad one. We have been called there way too many times for such a small school.

HOPE received word of a unexpected student death on 1/15/2020 in the evening. The death occurred in Vestaburg, Michigan, a small rural community north of Lansing. The middle /high school principal reached out to HOPE for teams to report to the school on 1/16 to assist counselors. Keena Jones and Bella were already in Lansing for an event on 1/15/2020. Calls were placed and two additional teams were able to deploy for 1/16/2020. The teams were directed to report to the school at 8:45 am. The teams were stationed in the Library along with the counselors. The counselors set up 4 areas in the Library for students, 3 of which had a HOPE team. Counselors were also prepared to see students one on one in a private area across the hall. Students were brought in by grades. Counselors spoke with small groups of students in the Library.

Visited Officers and Staff throughout the four-floor facility. Lyrrik is now being greeted by name as many people remember him and all of them are so appreciative of HOPE visits. My escort Gina introduced me to our new Chief of Police and he personally expressed thanks for our contributions and how meaningful he felt they are.

Nick Meier was contacted by the EUP ISD and HOPE was requested to be at JKL Bahweting and Lincoln Elementary. Ginger, Nick, and Julia responded to the call to JKL. A quiet room was established and students and staff met with the teams in the school Library. Several students interacted with the teams through out the day. Many students met with both the HOPE teams and the on site counselors. The teams were able to take needed breaks in the quiet room.

The deployment arose from the death of a Special Ed Teacher and her husband in a car accident the Saturday evening before the deployment.
We arrived at the Lincoln Elementary School and met with Dr. Hall. The other teams met at the JKL Bahweting School. Larry and Montie and Brenda and Raven greeted students as they arrived at school. Then we attended a staff meeting and spent some time with teachers and staff as they planned their day. We were provided a small room with a rest room to use as quiet time for Raven and Montie. The library was designated as a place where the teams would meet with students who were suffering from stress over the loss of the teacher. A white board had been set up with the teacher name on it and staff and students wrote a few words they chose to describe the teacher. Throughout the day there was a continual stream of students who came to the library. As we approached the end of the school day the need seemed to abate somewhat and the dogs had absorbed as much as possible.

A student had passed away over the holiday and students were notified the afternoon of 01/10. We were asked to come on Friday, 01/11. When I talked to Taylor, she was so pleased that teams were able to come. After arriving, we were surrounded by teachers excited to see the dogs. We went to Taylor’s classroom and she brought kids in by small groups. It was a surprise to them and very well received. I think teachers were as or more excited than the kids! Taylor definitely made us feel very welcome and valued.

This was HOPE's third visit to Schriever AFB. This is a highly classified Air Force base and tensions can run very high. Today, we toured different parts of the base with Keeper, which enabled more people to benefit from the comfort and presence of a dog. It is clearly evident that almost everyone was excited to see Keeper again, and to have the opportunity to take breaks away from meetings and duties to sit on the floor and relax a bit. We always hear stories of their dogs and what they mean to them, which tells us all how much animals are needed in our lives. A wonderful female Colonel stopped in the middle of the hall to pet Keeper and talk with us, and encouraged everyone around her to do the same. The base photographer took photos last time, and this time we saw the amazing poster their media department is producing to announce our HOPE dog's next visit! They want to work on scheduling a dog or two once a month because they are seeing the benefits of this interaction on their troops. Ann, they haven't forgotten Kara either. It was an amazing day!!

On December 15th a member of the WVSAR team died during a deployment for a missing hiker. Hope was asked to attend a meeting being held by the WVSAR team where the details of the event were going to be discussed. Our teams arrived early and met with several members as they came in. There were around 60 members present. The dogs moved to the back of the small room as the meeting started. The Sheriff department went over the results of their investigation. As you can imagine this was difficult and questions were asked. The next speaker was a counselor from The Counseling Team International who talked about grieving and dealing with this and how to carry forward. Several people starting asking questions and this discussion lasted over an hour. Several people came to the back of the room to interact with the dogs at this time. One thing that really stood out was all the support coming in from other SAR teams with offers of dinners, support for the family and a beautiful wooden flag memorial that the whole team took a picture with. After the meeting we stayed and many members came to pat the dogs, talk and thank us for coming. I felt a real bond in the room. These amazing people are all volunteers, train very hard and do a dangerous job in helping others. We made some strong connections that I believe will come through in the future.

There was only one teenage young lady with her grandmother scheduled for today's interviews although the time taken to complete interviews was longer than usual. I learned from staff after the client had left that they had arrived a few minutes before I did and the girl was very closed off and negative and emphatically stated "I don't want to be here!" A staff psychologist told her that if she liked dogs, Lyrrik was coming soon. I arrived minutes after that and she started talking and hardly stopped! Both she and her grandmother talked endlessly about their dogs, cats and birds and the conversation flow was very easy and light.

We were requested to assist the school community ("3000+ students and a couple of hundred staff") during the lunch hour Monday for staff only, Tuesday being escorted to visit the 3 classes each period of the 7 period in the school day, where one of the boys was missing. We circulated through the classes with 1-2 dog teams as available for the teachers and students in the classes. We also assisted other classes on-call due to relatives in the other classes having a hard time and needing comfort. During lunch, we went to the school wellness center to be available for those people, there. Other therapy and assistance dog teams would be in the quad at lunchtime to support the community. On Friday we were available to all the staff and students at lunchtime during a student created memorial event with student speakers, counselors, and a balloon release, and art tribute memorial service.

The Red Cross set up a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) in Minneapolis on Fri & Sat, 1/3-4, to support the clients of the Drake Hotel, which burned on Christmas Day, forcing the evacuation of 150-175 clients & 100 children. The Drake Hotel was used for overflow housing when other shelters were full, creating an additional crisis to care for those displaced by the fire. HOPE-AACR, along with 35 other agencies, provided comfort, resources and needed supplies for the clients.

On Tuesday, 12/18/2019, HOPE was called to respond to Tesoro High School reference a 15 year old student who had committed suicide. Jan Heppert and Sequoia & Myself and Henry responded on Wednesday, 12/19/2019 at 0730. We met with the OCDE CRN staff who briefed us on the details. We were stationed in the Library (counseling center) for the duration of the deployment. The day started off very slow until the students found out there were comfort dogs in the counseling center. Once the word got out, our day became busier. Both dogs had some very meaningful interactions with students and staff. Once school was let out for the day, both teams departed.

We were invited to this school to help with stress during finals. The school had 3 deaths by suicide last year and they are being pro-active this year.

Last year there were 3 suicides and the Hope dogs were deployed. This year the guidance department wanted to be proactive and bring the dogs in for destressing at finals. The dogs were in the guidance counselor's office. Students were invited to participate with teacher permission. We also were in the hallway at class passing time where many students and staff interacted with the dogs.

Sandy Miller, Keeper & I went to Schriever AFB to support their Lunchbox Games. We set up in the hallway outside the Lunchbox games. Many people stopped to pat Keeper and to talk with us about dogs. The people that work at this facility do very difficult shift work. There were at least two Commanders who asked if we could come to visit their shops. There lots of people who wanted to pet and interact with Keeper. She has a way of wagging her tail and trolling for pets.

What still amazes me about her is her ability to get a attention from people who are not interested. One Captain in particular, stopped by just to find out if he could schedule a time for us to come and visit with his unit. He declined to pet Keeper when he first came to talk with us. Then again during our conversation he said no thank you. BUT before he left he was reaching out on his own volition to put his hands on her.

Over the weekend a 16 year old who was a student at Rim of The World High School in Lake Arrowhead was murdered (shot). Student had lived in the community most of his life and was well known by most students (This is a mountain community and small high school of approximately 700 students- many students had been in school with this student since kindergarten).
I was contacted Sunday night by Mr. Beavers as Mountain Counseling had been called in to provide counseling and support to the students at Rim of the World High School, where the victim was a student. Mr. Beavers was working with the school district on a plan of action and would be meeting with them in person at 7am Monday morning and would not have approval for the teams until that time (though he felt positive he would receive approval). RD Steve Booth approved us being on standby by and placed the deployment request on BAND. At 7:20 Monday morning I received notification that "School administration was very supportive of involving HOPE" and had approved the teams working with Mountain Counseling.
Daltrey and I arrived at 8:45 am and were joined by Leslie/Abby and Jane/Kiss by 11:45. When we arrived we were immediately introduced to the Superintendent (Michelle Murphy) and the counselors assigned to the site.
We were stationed in the Library where the counselors were housed. Students had been advised that counselors were available. When I arrived there was one student present, and another two came in shortly after. One student immediately approached Daltrey and began petting him, she quickly disappeared and then returned with several other students. Thought the morning students came into the library looking for Daltrey ("Is it true there is a dog here"). The counselors commented on how, before we arrived they had minimal interactions and were amazed and the drastic change in numbers once were there.
Students would come in and gather around petting the dogs and then writing on a memorial wall that students had established for the student (the "wall" was later off limits and a paper memorial created in the library). Many students returned several times throughout the day to interact, making keeping track of numbers a challenge. After the other teams arrived, one of the counselors asked for Daltrey and I to go to the continuation school (located adjacent to the campus) and see those students- she escorted through the two active classrooms there where students were allowed time to interact with Daltrey.

Teams were deployed to OCFA for Dispatch de-stress

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department has recently had several violent altercations in their community. They reached out to HOPE AACR to one of our members, Angie Moe and Sunny, to come in for a wellness type visit. Four teams visited the building that houses the Sheriff’s Office, the Michigan State Police and the local Marshall Police Department. The Sheriff’s Office has been working hard to increase stigma-free mental health support to their officers. We were also able to visit the county jail in Battle Creek with our teams.

This was a busy morning of forensic interviews for one teenager and two preschoolers. A Safe Passage volunteer helped facilitate the entertainment and flow of everyone to help maintain as calm an environment as possible with so many parents, kids and interviewing officers and staff. Lyrrik was a relaxing presence and well utilized by most of the clients and several staff. One girl in particular depended on him quite a bit and made a strong connection with him. It's always rewarding to be a silent observer of this type of interaction.

We arrived on the last day of family witnesses. The defendant’s son and his mother and one other witness were present. The mother was open to visiting with Layla but the son said he didn’t like dogs because a dog had killed one of his cats. He has several. I switched gears and told him Layla and I both loved and had had cats in our lives. That didn’t seem to have much effect on him, but when he returned later after testifying.....which was very difficult...he wanted to tell us about his cats and show us photos. That process seemed to lighten him up and he smiled and chatted so long that his Mother kept urging him to go. Even though he wasn’t interested in connecting with a dog, Layla’s presence, nonetheless, opened him up to sharing about his beloved cats and gave him respite from his challenging day.
One other witness was present and he welcomed a hello from Layla but otherwise was non communicative. We also visited with several staff members.
It was so helpful to have Mary go in with me and describe the process.

Lamar and I deployed on both 12/4 and 12/5 for 3 hours each day for the same trial witnesses. This was a horrific case of homicide and attempted homicide and the witnesses were the young adult children (and their mother) of the accused man alleged to have abused and killed his current wife and attempted to kill her friend. The children had apparently been abused by their father earlier but lived separately from him in another state. They were grateful to have Lamar to comfort them, as were the staff who were under great stress as well. I walked Lamar around to staff when the witnesses were in the courtroom.

Keeper and I went to the CSPD for a scheduled visit. We managed to get through the whole building in the two hour window. We had lots of wonderful interactions. Quite a few people got on the floor to greet and pet Keeper. One of the best interactions was with the Admin for the Chief of Police.

This was the same trial Gail reported on. Maggie and I were there on Tuesday afternoon for 3 hours and we were asked to return on Wednesday afternoon. My report is primarily for Wednesday.
The staff was happy to see Maggie again - she had made a few new friends on Tuesday! There were two witnesses present and Maggie interacted with each of them. After we were there for about 30 minutes a young woman was brought in and sat across from us. She had just finished testifying and she was very tearful and upset. Maggie and I went over and I sat next to her. She immediately started petting Maggie and was quietly crying and looking down. After a few minutes she began to interact with me, asking questions about Maggie. I asked her if she would like to see some pictures of Maggie when she was little. She said she would. I carry a small photo album (Thank you, Mary Martin) and she started going through the pictures. She was soon smiling and giggling and continued to pet Maggie. When she left a bit later, her head was up and she was no longer looking so very sad.
Maggie and I are new to this crisis work. As I sat there watching Maggie and this young woman, I was so moved by this experience. I felt honored to be able to help (hopefully) begin this healing process for this very brave, very young, woman.
My thanks to HOPE for allowing me to part of your amazing organization.

The family requested HOPE to attend the funeral of a 24 year old that was killed in a tragic car accident along with a 23 year old friend. The memorial service went very well and the AACR training absolutely was so beneficial speaking to the family, including the parents of both the 23 year old and 24 year old that were killed in the accident. The girl friend that was in tears as she loved on Winston and the dad of the 23-year-old who really seemed to open up while petting Winston as he told us stories of his Jack Russell.

Background information....Hope AZ was called to work at the Grand Opening for Gilbert's first Cemetery/Mortuary at the beginning of the month. Our Group works with city officials in Gilbert quite often.

The Funeral home, Gilbert Memorial Park, recommended to the decedents family our group as a possibility to be at the service.
The decedent was a local, long time, loved teacher in the community who had lost her battle with cancer and was a huge animal lover and advocate. They expected 150 in attendance. The family had asked that in lieu of flowers for friends to donate to a dog group in their mothers name.
Hope was suggested to be present at the service for mourners and for the family by the Funeral Home.
The two teams (Tracy/Evelyn and Sharon/Abby) arrived before the public to meet with the family. The daughters of the decedent
were so pleased to have our teams present. As the public arrived we stayed back but visible for mourners to come and engage with
the dogs. Abby and Evelyn work weekly at the airport together...so they are in-sync with each other and give and take with attention.
As the service began, we stepped out and walked the grounds to rest and potty the dogs. We then went back to same area and
waited for mourners to exit chapel and head to lunch. Lunch was running late so we had about 30 minutes to help family and
friends fill the empty time. We met most of the attendees at this time. When the catered lunch arrived. We waited until food service was up and then we slipped away.

HOPE was asked to attend the Magnolia HS "Week of Thanks" event. Wednesday was dubbed "Thanks for our furry friends" day. The teams were met outside the campus by ASB students and escorted to the counseling room. The ASB teams escorted students in and out of the counseling room in order to keep the teams from being overwhelmed by students. In a span of about 45 minutes, each team visited with about 200 students. After our allotted time had expired (lunch period) we had time to visit with the ASB and Staff. Our presence was greatly appreciated by the school administration.

The State Court Administration Office is experiencing some leadership changes and some other things that are causing some emotional distress for the staff. They requested we come for some comfort and support. We arrived and were quickly greeted by a staff member who took us right up to the rooms we were going to be in. Some staff had already arrived and the rest came in waves until they were all there. We were spread out between a long hallway and a large room. So we put teams in each area. We were greeted with such enthusiasm and so many people shared how helpful this experience was for them. Many said to us, "This is JUST what we needed!", or "This completely made my day!" It was amazing to see everyone connecting with one another as well as with the teams. There was a lot of positive conversation and laughter during our time with them. The energy in the rooms was very lively and positive. Some staff sat on the floor with the dogs for long periods of time while petting the dogs and talking with the handlers. Lunch was served and after all the staff had gotten their lunch, we were invited in to get some lunch as well. We were very grateful for that. This was a fun deployment for everyone.

Bimonthly comfort visits to the POC. Grace was well received. I was asked by the Sergeant in charge of Wellness Community Response Team Crisis Intervention Training if we could be available to him. I forwarded his information to Karen Klein our RD.

This is a monthly support group for families of murdered children we are involved with. There were two new women who had driven up from Colorado Springs (over an hour and a half drive) to attend. The main topic for the evening was how to handle the holidays.
Everyone enjoys Timmy and I can see them visibly relax as they pet him.

HOPE AACR teams received the invitation with help from our Route 91 Las Vegas shooting contact.

We were informed pretty quickly after the confirmation of our invitation by the City of Santa Clarita that they expected over 10,000 people at the Saugus Strong vigil for 15-year-old Gracie Muehlberger and 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell, the two students killed in school shooting last Thursday. We were not disappointed in the number of people who attended. There were other therapy dog groups on site and some of our friends that work with the various law enforcement peer to peer support groups with their dogs.

We circulated among the crowd before and after the event, and listened respectfully to the emotional speeches during the event. With so many people in attendance we would not be able to visit with all and as this was a vigil we took into consideration the emotional environment and respectfully visited with people who wanted and seemed to need a visit. We let the dogs decide who to visit and below is something Sarah Jane wanted to share.

"I have heard of other HOPE members talk about a very special moment that they have experienced while on deployment, and last night we experienced one of those moments. A young man (perhaps a senior in high school) sat down on the ground about 30 feet away from us, head in his hands, sobbing loudly while a young woman crouched next to him and rubbed his back. I brought Maverick near the young man and had barely gestured asking if he wanted to pet the dog when he nodded and reached out to Maverick, who went right up to him, tail wagging gently, and went forehead to forehead with him. The young man clutched Maverick tightly, and within moments Maverick melted down, rolling onto his back in the young man's lap. The young man bent forward and hugged Maverick, rubbing his belly and kissing his head while Maverick's tail wagged. "

Star and Kelda both have similar stories and we are proud of all our dogs.

Around 8pm we walked over to a tree away from the crowd, but on the way to the memorial, and let the dogs and handlers rest on a blanket and drink some water. A well deserved little break for dogs and handlers.

As we went to the memorial, people came over to our dogs for some unconditional love.

Student suicide at St. Francis High in Minnesota. A concerned parent of another student at the school reached out to HOPE. We contacted the school guidance counselor and principal. The school invited HOPE teams (4 handler teams with 3 HOPE dogs) into the school library where they allowed students to interact throughout the day with the dogs for comfort and encouragement.

A teacher had collapsed in the classroom on 11/12 and passed away on the way to the hospital. Students witnessed it and had to go for help (2nd grade). A request came in morning of 11/13 requesting teams to be there as they were telling kids about the passing. Three teams were able to respond quickly and spend some time with them. We visited about 20 students first - they were very happy to see the dogs and a number of them seemed to relax during the visit. The next group were the students who had the teacher last year. Again, very glad we were there. On 11/14, the teams visited with teachers and counselors first. Several 4th graders came to visit - very sad initially but much better after the visit. The second graders came, then 8th graders, and it was noisy but the dogs were great - remained very calm. The 8th graders presented the 2nd graders each with a handmade pillow to remind them they weren’t alone. On both days the trading cards were a huge hit. Big thanks to responding so quickly.

HOPE teams were invited to participate in the annual MADD vigil. This is always a very emotional, touching event. The teams were welcomed warmly and began circulating before the event started. We received many "thank you's" for being there. A video was shown at the beginning of the event honoring the memory of a young mother of 4 who lost her life to a drunk driver. How could a preventable event such as this not affect you deeply? We received many "thank you's" for being there. After the event the teams stayed and interacted with many of the families. Again, much appreciation was offered for our teams being there to support the grieving families and staff .

A deployment was activated for OCCRO to respond to Hart Middle School in Rochester Hills, MI due to a student suicide which occurred in early October. (While I am a member of OCCRO, when an AACR dog team can be utilized I accompany them as a HOPE team, not as a member of OCCRO) The format was to be an informal drop in type of interaction with staff and no students. Darby and I accompanied the personnel from OCCRO in interacting with the staff. After a meeting with the school district nurse who requested the deployment we were staged in a small office where staff came in small groups or trickled in one by one. We learned that this was the third student suicide at this school in four years which appeared to have a great impact on the staff. The presence of a HOPE AACR team was very beneficial as some approached us right away and some looked at Darby often while speaking then did interact at great length with her at the end. At that time it was evident the relief she brought. At the beginning I did explain that we encouraged interaction with her yet did not want to be a distraction and I think that was helpful to incorporate her into the session. This allowed time for OCCRO personnel to help direct the session as well as provide that much needed relief an AACR team can bring. I did leave HOPE business cards and relayed how HOPE AACR teams can be utilized should they need our services in the future.

On November 5th HOPE was asked to provide support to the staff and students of Laguna Beach High School due to the death of a 14 year old student. The OCDE CRN asked us to staff the "Counseling Room" and visit the students class rooms. On arrival we visited with Administration staff and teachers. We were then escorted to the counseling room at which time the dogs visited with a few students and staff. The counselors then escorted the dogs to different class rooms. At lunch time, our dogs were requested to stage in the quad area so all the students could visit with the dogs. The dogs did an awesome job of dealing with all the students and distractions that come with a throng of people. After lunch, we visited with students in the physical education department. At about 12:30 pm, we returned to the counseling room and visited with some special education students. At about 1:30 pm all teams left.

HOPE was invited to Regis Jesuit High School to introduce our Teams to their students and adults on campus. They had a death in their school last month and would like HOPE to be a resource for them when they have a crisis. We were greeted very enthusiastically by all the staff. We were directed to an activity area where the students do yoga. The administrator announced our location over the intercom and then the bell rang for lunch. We were inundated with students. Several times I tried to visually check on the other teams but I could not see them through the crowd. At one point, there were at least a dozen kids with their hands on Keeper. Afterwards, I heard the other teams had similar experiences. It still amazes me these dogs can take that kind of pressure. The students I met were very respectful, polite, and well dressed. Everyone (staff included) seemed very happy the dogs were there.

We offer support to staff at the Police Operations Center as a break during their stressful day.

We were asked to attend and support this Yellow Ribbon Event for the Air Force at Moffett Field, Mountain View, Ca by Carolann Wunderlin.
She was impressed with the positive impact the HOPE teams had during another Yellow Ribbon event earlier this year in Palo Alto.
In requesting Hope Teams to attend she stated...
"I have witnessed the tremendous calming effect your teams have had at our Yellow Ribbon events and know that our members will
benefit the day of our Stand Down."

The day took place between 8am & 4pm. They estimated 800 military personnel would attend.
Everyone was divided into small discussion groups which promoted meaningful discussions on suicide, depression and similar topics. There were 30-40 of these small groups which filled a large hanger. Presentations were made by various professionals throughout the day.

The Hope Teams stood near the front during the talks and then mingled among the small groups during the breaks.
The dogs were eagerly welcomed by all and one of the comments in evaluating the day was ...."Next time , less talk and more dogs!"
The dogs seem to bring some needed relief and joy to all there.

The facility was very difficult to find on such a large base....thanks to Christi & Lisa's tenacity, we all arrived!

Lameka Bell had a cancellation for this event and asked that I come and speak with a dog. I was not able to attend without a dog.

Pam Bertz, acting RD gave me permission to attend with Kelda II.

This is a group of local school age girls who are doing various projects, learning various skills to prepare for the world at large. This group has adult leaders and Lameka is one of the leaders of this group.

Scotty was not present so Kelda visited with the girls, presenters, parents, etc. when it was appropriate. All the speakers were women who told about their background and the jobs/careers they had. It was quite inspiring as some of the speakers had come to the US as young adult from other countries and did not know English when they came. One was an ER nurse and the other was an assistant DA. I spoke about being a paralegal and volunteer work for HOPE and explained that we were to go up the the Kincade fire base camp and other volunteer organizations .

This was the annual candlelight vigil for MADD to remember the loved ones who were killed or injured by drunk drivers. This was a new venue and an earlier time. The event was down in numbers over past years possibly because of changes. Karen and I positioned ourselves close to the entrance so we could interact with families as they were arriving. After the service we were also available. Had some very poignant conversations with families. Was told by several of the MADD staff how grateful they were to have us.

HOPE responded to the sudden death of a senior at Lakeview High School in Lakeview, MI. We met for a briefing with the administration and counselors from the school district and Intermediate School District prior to the start of the school day. Our teams covered the entrances of the building for a “meet and greet” of the students as they entered the school. We staged in the Media Center and we were present as students met with counselors one-on-one and small group grief sessions throughout the day along with the Police liaisons officer. We walked the halls and were available to students and staff during classroom time and passing time. It was Halloween and many students were in costumes, however, the dogs did not exhibit any outward stress symptoms to the outfits. We handed out our trading cards to students during the day which they treasured.
Even though the death occurred a few days prior to our arrival, there was a need for our presence. We had an impact especially during the three lunch periods. Students were able to interact with the dogs in the hallway coming and leaving the lunchroom. The student who died had been attending the Career Center in the morning and high school in the afternoon. We made sure to be at the entrance and make contact with the students when the Career Center bus arrived at the high school.

Continuing the deployment by Cal Fire Per support, Linda and I traveled on 10/30/2019.  After a quick break, we arrived at the Cal fire base camp at 7pm at the Santa Rosa fairgrounds. After meeting with Stephanie and Berlin, and checking in with our POC, we visited with fire fighters and support personnel until 10:30pm. The number of interactions and overwhelming response we had, including fire fighters running after us to pet the dogs, gave us such a sense of purpose here. We had been asked to attend morning briefings at 7am and shift change at 7pm by our POC. For the next three days our teams got up early and traveled many miles to make this happen. The Bay Area was experiencing a cold snap starting Thursday so temps were in the 30s in the mornings and dropped significantly at night. Teams arrived by 7am to attend the briefing.  We then went out to the engines and  "support trailers" as well. Around noon we would leave and take a break until returning around 5pm meeting with fire fighters coming in off 24 hour shifts until we would leave at around 8-9pm. The Airbnb Anna secured for the teams was a very welcomed sight after our long days. The Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) college was threatened by the fire and evacuated during this fire. The CCI personnel evacuated over 80 dogs and puppies. Thankfully all are safe! Many members of CCI brought dogs out to visit the base camp. We met some amazing people from their organization and they in turn thanked us for what we do! Cal fire peer support invited us to join in with CCI for a local news cast and photo shoot with the dogs helping the fire fighters in base camp. With CCI and other therapy dogs present we were vigilant to keep our space and work in different areas of the camp. I will say I was proud of HOPE.  We were there in the early morning and especially later in the evenings and the response to that was very gratifying! As team leader I want to give a big thank you to Michael and Kathy for paving the way.  All the teams worked so hard! Big shout out to Lisa McCoy and Roma for their first deployment, they did great!  The number of special interactions were too many too mention. Many fire fighters recognized HOPE from other  base camps especially the Tubbs fire. I met the same fire fighter who was at the route 91 concert.  Star gave her a Route 91 one year anniversary pin to at the Woolsey fire last year.  Just in time to give him her 2 year anniversary pin!  All teams deployed by Sunday November 3rd.

Kelda and I arrived and looked for Lameka and Scotty, who were in the auditorium mingling with the children and adults in the community. This is an annual Halloween party for the children of Hawthorne, a safe place where they can come in costume, play various games (like bean bag toss and all games had a Halloween theme and gave out candy) dance and go thru a haunted passageway. There was music and a stage for dancing. Also the Hawthorne Police Department, LA Rams (with LA Rams cheerleaders) LA Kings (with Kings Crew members) also had booths and handed out candy.

Kelda and Scotty were a big with the children and adults alike and many pictures were taken with the children/adults and the dogs. In fact the Hawthorne Police Officers, LA Rams and the LA Kings wanted their photos with the dogs. In fact I learned later that both the LA Rams and LA Kings each posted their photos of Kelda and Scotty.

Visited with the commands that had experienced recent losses through accidental deaths and suicide. It has been a particularly difficult week. The personnel appreciate the fact that there is a group of people who care enough to spend some time with them -- and particularly that we bring furry friends.

We were asked by Cal Fire Battalion Chief, Nicole Schutz, to help with her Peer Support efforts at the base-camp located in the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds..

Within 24 hours we were able to respond with 2 canine teams and within 72 hours (thanks to the generous support of our SoCal HOPE colleagues) we were able to provide our dog-teams for subsequent days.
Because of the combination of extensive power outages and a massive number of evacuees, finding accommodations on short notice was a major challenge. Accordingly, for the first 2 days Kathy and I commuted to and from the base-camp, leaving the Mid-Peninsula at 4 AM each day to make the 7 AM deployment briefing. Since there was no LAC in operation, all of our efforts were configured around the briefings, accompanying the soon-to-deploy firefighters to their rigs, meeting the firefighters returning from the line after their 12-24 hour shift, and visiting support personnel permanently based in the base-camp. The mutual enjoyment of these many interactions was extremely gratifying.

Although we went to the 2 adjacent evacuation centers, there were too many resident dogs to make a visit there feasible.

Four commands were affected by sailors' deaths due to alcohol and suicide. The sailors already have stressful jobs and these tragedies have added to the stress. We traveled to several sites accompanied by two counselors. The young men and women responded beautifully to our dogs. It was very obvious that ZuZu and Digory brightened their days and help to release their stress and sadness for a while.

Rocky Mountain Region teams attended the annual COVA (Colorado Organization for Victims Assistance) Conference from Oct 27-30 in Keystone Colorado which hosts approximately 1100 participants. It is the 6th year that HOPE has attended the conference and many participants looked forward to seeing their favourite dogs. They expressed disappointment that Kara and Lucas were unable to attend (as they were featured in the program). COVA and conference participants also welcomed Dawn and Keeper, newcomers to our team, and many provided condolences to both Sandy and Tina in the absence of their dogs this year. Hondo and Lani were acknowledged for their past work in the conference program. A major snowstorm and bitterly cold temperatures hampered the conference, including the inability of many speakers to attend. As noted, teams arrived earlier than usual to ensure that they were able to travel safely.
COVA staff identified specific workshop sessions in which they wanted HOPE dogs available and we were able to accommodate these requests. The conference venue is busy, and presentations are highly impactful so the presence of the dogs is significant to reduce stress. The dogs also participated in the costume contest at the President's Dinner.
There were other dogs (and mini horses) on the premises who presented additional challenges for our dogs. All members were watchful to ensure that we did not have any negative encounters.

Deputy Jake Allmendinger, 31, was killed in a tragic accident as he and his partner were responding to a call from stranded motorists. He had worked for 911 dispatch for 7 years, Search and Rescue for 8 years, and became a Deputy in 2017. He was married and had 3 young children. HOPE was requested to provide teams to support members of the family and the community at his open casket viewing.
Upon arrival Gala spoke with Irene Dahl and then accompanied Nancy & Yuki and Carol & Maggie into the mortuary and introduced us. Irene was very welcoming and asked that we stay in the reception area right inside the entrance. Later during the viewing, we were told we could walk into the viewing room and the room behind it where there were light snacks and tables and chairs.
Many of those who attended the viewing were very responsive and appreciated the dogs and allowed them to offer comfort. There were many law enforcement men and women present as well as search and rescue volunteers. Jake's parents and some grandparents as well as siblings were also there. The level of grief and sadness ebbed and flowed. All of us could feel it.
Carol & Maggie left at 6:45. Gala and Nancy & Yuki stayed. Katherine & Layla arrived at 7. They all left at 8:20 as there were few people still there and all had an opportunity to interact with the dogs.

A May, 2019, graduate of Les Cheneaux High School was killed in a motor vehicle accident. HOPE teams were requested by the Intermediate School District Crisis Response Team as well as the High School. Teams responded and did a "meet and greet" as students entered the building. Later one team staged in the resource center while another team visited classrooms. This was a small school and K-12 were contained in one building. Students from the various grades visited the dogs in the learning center.

HOPE teams were requested to be available to this school following a student death the previous week. This school is also a school that Karen Klein volunteers with so it has a special attachment. Many students are at risk and special needs students. The teams were escorted to the classroom of the deceased student. Most of the students were unaware of this student's passing. Mr. Goetz announced to the students of this unfortunate, tragic, and very sad event. A few students comprehended the news and a few others did not. Mr. Goetz allowed time for questions and processing. He then showed a video and allowed the students to be somewhat flexible. One student in particular was really interested in the dogs. Other students not so much. Then Lee and Grace were taken to another classroom where there were more interactions with students. After a short while Lucas and I joined Lee and Grace. Lee and Grace were taken to another classroom with mainly students who are autistic. Lee reported many interactions in that room. Many students and staff seemed to enjoy and appreciate the dogs. From there we were taken into the counseling office where we mostly interacted with staff. There were 2 students that spent a fair amount of time with us and seemed to very much enjoy the dogs. We received many thanks and much appreciation for supporting the school during this difficult time.

I met Cynthia through our work with Parents of Murdered Children. Her sister, brother-in-law, and niece were murdered. She is starting a support group for families and friends of murder victims to help rebuild their lives through writing, visual arts, and music. This was her open house to advertise her studio. Sadly, only one family member came but there were representatives from the Douglas County Sheriff's Department and other resource agencies. There was a lot of networking that happened. The victim advocate from the sheriff's department recognized Timmy from the COVA department and said she remembered laying on the floor with him. I shared about HOPE with the head of the group Love Bears All. He was interested in doing therapy work with his dog and asked a lot of questions. The family member was very smitten with Timmy and was excited that she might be seeing him at future meetings.

Monthly meeting of POMC. No new people. Timmy is always welcomed with open arms and brings lots of smiles and laughter

HOPE AACR had a request from the Houston Area Women's Center to make a visit to employees at their office in Houston from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. The HAWC staff experience extreme trauma with their clients every single day of the year and often experience secondary trauma. Rebel and Abbie brought so much joy and happiness to these employees during these few hours. It was amazing to watch the constant smiles as employees came in and out of the room and a few never left the entire time we were there. There was a true connection with Rebel and Abbie and our dogs returned the love and much more to these employees as they sensed how much these employees needed them.

Rudyard school is a small K- 12 school. At the time of the deployment request, we were informed that three 9th grade students were injured in an ATV accident and were hospitalized. At that time it was known that one student had a severe concussion and a broken neck. The students are members o the volleyball team and were supposed to play in a tournament the day after the accident. The HOPE teams arrived and met with the school administration and their crisis response team. During the meeting students started arriving for the day. As soon as the meeting adjourned Brenda and Raven headed towards one student entrance and Karen and Charles headed to the other student entrance. Both dogs were well received but many students were unaware of the reason for our deployment. For them, we just said it was just to start their week off well. The volleyball team and coaches were brought together for a private session as they were the most affected. Two of the injured girls were actually able to attend school that morning. Their attendance greatly reduced the emotional turmoil of the students and staff. HOPE teams participated in recording a video for the remaining hospitalized student.

Keeper and I went to Safe Passage. They had two appointments. Both were 4 year old girls. Keeper had great interactions with the girls and their adults and the staff.

Westboro Baptist Church will be protesting at Manitou Springs High School on Monday October 14. WBC has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other anti-discrimination watchdogs. We were asked to be present to support students and staff.

We arrived at the Beaumont Civic Center and set up our booth at 9:30. The event hours were 11:00-4:00; however, lines had formed around the building starting at 7:30. We started having interactions before entering the building with anxious people in line. Our three teams from Houston started visits from agency vendors and a few clients at the booth as soon as we got it set up, then started sending two teams at a time to the outside lines by 11:00. Sara Gubala and Reagan joined us at 12:30. Additional space for lines was set up inside the building, so we started visiting with clients there so people wouldn't lose their place in line. At about 3:00, it was announced that the event would end before all the people in line would be seen by the agencies they needed. The hours were extended until 5:00. The Red Cross made plans to register people at other places in the area but couldn't continue to use the civic center on Sunday or Monday.

We were called to Falcon High School to help send off the kids before fall break. Many of these kids have very difficult home life and school is their one place where there is structure and safety. Falcon High School has had a lot of tragedies in the past and we have a great working relationship with them. The dogs also help relieve the stressors of school life.
We did have one student that had spent several years in a halfway house and has not seen or touched a dog in years. The staff member who was with him, stated that it was amazing to see him interacting with the dog. Many of the students recognized the dogs and at times there were long lines just to see the dogs. We also had another kid who had met one of the dogs at another facility and he was so impressed that the dog was able to visit with him at school.

Visited Officers, staff, administration, employees, etc. throughout the four floor Operations Center as an ongoing Employee Welfare service. HOPE teams are enthusiastically welcomed and greatly appreciated. In addition to the usual visits, we were asked to stop in a room where a training session was being held. All the attendees were VERY grateful for the puppy break.

In a follow up to our visit on Friday, October 4th, we were asked to attend the CRN critical incident stress de-brief held at the school. The de-brief was arranged by OCDE and conducted by "Love Anaheim". Our mission was to console those affected by the process. We had several interactions during the de-brief. We stayed after the de-brief to help those affected by the conversation.

Last month a staff member passed away while giving birth to twin babies. The staff has been having difficulty dealing with the death and the investigation process. Because they deal with child abuse cases day in and day out, they are having a difficult time finding time to grieve. Our presences allows a little down time to stop and reflect.

HOPE was asked to send 1 team to Schriever AFB to introduce the concept of a therapy dog. They have had four suicides this year and are hoping this might help. Jessica got our information by asking our contact at Ft. Carson.

I received a call at 8:00 am from the OCDE reference the death of a popular student who graduated last year. The individual was only 19. Henry and I arrived at 10:00 am at the school. We were asked to respond to the Multipurpose Room where the CRN, and district, counselors had set up a counseling room. We were stationed outside of the counseling room. Our purpose was to be a "positive distraction". After the last class of the day (it was minimum day) the CRN closed up the counseling room. We made some visits in the schools administration office and left.

HOPE was requested to be present at the TOPSoccer Fest for the special individual soccer league. We are used to help calm those overwhelmed by sensory issues. The dogs did a great job of calming those who visited our station. It was a hot day and it added to some of the stressors.

HOPE was asked to visit OCFA dispatchers after a couple months of stressful OT shifts and calls. Our presence is always a big hit with the dispatchers and staff. During our visits, there always seems to be a stressful call that comes in. Last night was no exception. One call was a teen who was overdosing. The dispatchers received several calls on several lines reference the teen. Each dispatcher was getting conflicting information. The dispatchers had to piece together the fragmented information in order to dispatch live saving information to their firefighters. Our teams stayed till 8:00 pm to cover both sides of the shifts to maximize our visit.

Meeting location
Red Cross Greater Phx Chapter
4747 22nd St. Phoenix, AZ

This was the second meeting of the newly formed Maricopa County COAD.
There is a state COAD but all counties in Arizona are forming groups to help
there immediate population for large and small incidents.

Stephanie and Sharon arrived early to potty dogs.
We took seats in the back to give dogs room.
Most members came to greet the dogs.

The agenda today included:
Introduction of Members and their asset to COAD
Election of Officers
Clarifying new By Laws
Discussion of meetings per year

Next meeting will be January 2020.

HOPE was asked to support students over two lunch periods as part of their wellness week. Different positive activities were planned each day (nutrition, crafts, HOPE dogs, yoga) to hopefully help suicide prevention. Maria, our contact, said the students were "pumped" to see the dogs - it would be the highlight of their week. The students were very receptive and appreciative. On this subject, Dawn and Keeper had an interesting experience. Keeper is terrified of bees. We met with the students in an outside courtyard that had bees. The students would see Keeper shaking and ask Dawn if her dog was cold. Dawn explained that Keeper was afraid of bees, and then she watched these kids become exceptionally caring and concerned. As Dawn said: "a Disadvantage turned into an Advantage".
A fun note: Sandy Miller enjoyed visiting her alma mater

SCHEDULE VISIT WITH A THREE YEAR OLD CLIENT AND HER PARENTS, VISITING WITH STAFF

We had a request from the American Red Cross to make a visit to their employees at the main American Red Cross office located at 2700 S.W. Freeway in Houston, Tx. They requested we visit from 5 pm-7 pm for their Volunteers returning to the office after working at offsite locations helping victims of the recent flooding from Imelda. Everyone's faces lit up as soon as our dogs walked in and made a room full of hard working folks smile and feel so loved. They even asked us to remain for their "stand up" meeting. It was pure joy to see how much Rebel, Abbie and Pickle Juice made a difference to all these folks. They just did not want us to leave and could not thank us enough for being there.

Hope was contacted by Terri Keener to respond to the Vegas Strong Resiliency center for the Route 91 two year reunion on Sept 30th. We were also asked to attend events on October 1st in connection with the second anniversary of the shooting. In addition we were requested to attend a firefighter/family member peer support event on Saturday, September 28th in Henderson due to a fire fighter suicide . Star and I arrived to Henderson at 3:00 pm and were joined by Stephanie Berger at 5:00 pm. Our teams were recognized by several cal fire peer support members we have worked with from Montecito and Santa Rosa deployments. The debrief and follow up was very emotional as this had just happened. Everyone interacted with the dogs and were thankful we were there. The Route 91 reunion took place on Sunday the 29th at the Hard Rock Casino in the pool area. We were assigned a cabana with the Vegas Resiliency Center counselors. Stephanie and I arrived at 11:30 am and left at 7 pm. The reunion was well attended. This was a small and crowded venue with bands playing very loudly all day. We were able to move around the pool area and areas set up for remembrance walls and memorials. Despite being crowded and very loud our dogs did great work interacting with survivors. Several people showed me the dogs cards from last years reunion- and it was very special to be shown Star cards! Overall the reunion was upbeat and at the same time very emotional. Several people shared their stories with us and the dogs. It was a long and very fulfilling day. On Monday the 30th, Star and I were asked by our POC to visit the Driven Neuro Recovery Center in Las Vegas. We arrived at 1:30 and visited with stroke, spinal and brain injury patients doing physical therapy work. The staff and patients were amazing people and enjoyed visiting with Star. The director told me they were thinking of setting up dog therapy visits and after our visit she was definitely going to pursue that! Grace and Cathleen got in late Monday night. "1 October" is how the locals refer to the shooting. All four teams were present at the 6:30 am Sunrise Remembrance Ceremony at the Clark County Government Center. Several government officials, as well as fire and police, spoke. One member had lost a son . Several hundred people attended including families of victims. The dogs interacted with many people at the service. Afterwards we were asked to attend a Wellness Event where several services were being made available to help with coping with grief and stress. At 11:00 am we were asked to send dogs to The Healing Garden where the city of Las Vegas had built a beautiful area with 58 trees representing each person who had lost their lives. This was the main gathering area of the family members . Stephanie and I went over and were joined by Grace and Cathleen at 1:00 pm after the wellness fair ended. The dogs interacted with many people here. We left at 3:00 pm to give the dogs a break before returning at 7:30 pm to the Healing Gardens to be with the the families and friends. At 10 :05 pm, the actual time of the shooting, the mayor did the "Reading of the Names" of each person that was lost . Our dogs worked very hard from 7:30 pm -11:30 pm this evening. So many people reached out to get a pet or a hug. It is not possible to put into words the number of interactions and the emotions and words said on this day. We were thanked so many times for being there, as always we said it was an honor.

Visit went well. Met with approximately 9 different people. The point of contact, Rebecca, was not on-site. She referred me to a woman named Jamilla, who was also not on-site. It did not seem as though our visit was very well publicized - several of the folks who visited with Roscoe were not aware we were going to be there.

Something to be aware of for anyone volunteering at the Queens OCME: There is a very strong odor in the building. There is a significant amount of deodorizer used, but after a while, the smell can be unsettling.

NCMEC brought staff from all their regional offices across the country for a meeting/ town hall discussion. We spent just over an hour visiting before the meeting started. We met a number of people who had heard about the dog visits and were very happy to see us.

The National Day of Remembrance is to honor and remember family members who have been murdered. Families, victim advocates, district attorney and police department representatives attend. It is a time for each family group to honor their loved one by sharing with the group their picture, birth and death date and their age. Tammy Rafferty Johnson and Melissa Brown both spoke very movingly about the murder for hire of their husband and sister respectively by their brother in law. They were both targeted but thankfully were not present when the murders occurred. They spoke about how they were impacted and how they are now speaking out and working in the community to support other victims. There was some mingling before and after the service and we were able to bring joy and support to many individuals. Many of the families we knew through our work with the Parents of Murdered Children support group. It was meaningful for me to see the pictures of the children/family members they talk about each month

HOPE was asked to supply support to the Orange County Fire Authority dispatchers due to the stress of their job. Sequoia and Henry did their best to alleviate their stress during this visit. During our visit, one dispatcher had just learned of her Grandmothers death. We also listen to one dispatcher give CPR instructions to a caller. These men and women are under a tremendous amount of stress day in and day out. After both day shifts and night shifts were visited, we left the facility.

HOPE was asked by the OCDE Crisis Response Network to respond to a Elementary school to console staff and students after the unexpected death of a special education teacher. We arrived at 0830 and met with the principle and her staff. We were then escorted to the home room of the special education teacher who had passed. We met with the substitute teacher and the students affected by the death. The students were in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. The students sat on the floor and interacted with Henry until the next set of students arrived. The next set of students laid on the floor and interacted with Henry. At about 1000 we left the school.

Keeper and I went to CSPD for the first time as a team. We had a wonderful volunteer escort us around the building. We had many positive interactions. Several people said they look forward to Wednesdays when the HOPE dogs come.

Tropical Storm Imelda hit Southeast Texas on September 18-19 bringing between 20-48 inches of rain throughout my area. Over 350 people are in shelters as of 9/21. The shelter I went to housed about 200 people. There were approximately 15 first responders assigned to this shelter and about 5 Red Cross workers. I reached out to the Red Cross on Friday, September 20 and they invited me to bring one of my HOPE dogs to a shelter that I could access. The two most damaged areas (Vidor and Hamshire-Fannett) were not accessible due to high water. We were asked to go to the shelter at the old Central High School location, 88 Jaguar Dr, Beaumont, TX 77702. Upon arriving, I checked in with the police officer stationed outside who told me a little about the shelter as well as gave me the name of the shelter manager - Mr. Sauter and asked me to find him before I went into the shelter. I found the shelter manager and he was very pleased to see us and said that the people were very stressed as some were going to be transported to a more longer term shelter in Lumberton, TX. He said that we were welcome to go inside and meet the people. Before we went in, there was a girl outside of the shelter who kept calling to my dog and saying "come here Kennedy", it turned out she was at the shelter in 2017 and remembered my other HOPE dog Kennedy. She reassured everyone out front that I had brought a very friendly dog to visit them. Upon entering the shelter, I was immediately bombarded by people wanting to pet my dog. The Red Cross staff yelled out "this shelter does not allow dogs", I approached the table to let them know who I was and that I was asked here by the local Red Cross director and they all said, she is a "working dog", I said yes and then things were good. One of the workers came out and hugged me as she remembered me from Hurricane Harvey. She suggested I have a spot to sit in and have the people come to me, I told her that was a great idea as this was their home and I wanted to be respectful of their space and their things. Within about 5 minutes of arriving, we had a line of people ready to pet my dog. This was the first call-out that my young HOPE dog has done, so I was interested to see how she would do. She was a pro, she was a little nervous at first as there was a lot of noise but once she realized what her job was, she settled in really well and found a lot of laps to climb into. One man came up to us as he thought she was a cocker spaniel, he told me that he has PTSD very badly. Reagan gently went up to him and put her head right in his lap. He started to cry and he asked me how did she know what to do? I told him she sensed he needed her. Several first responders came and sat with us, they said they had been working since early Thursday morning and had not been home. They asked if they could have time to pet her, I told them that she was there for everyone. Eventually the shelter manager came and sat with us, he told me it was the first time he had been able to sit down in probably 8 hours. Reagan knew just what to do and went right up to him to be loved on. We had a great visit today. They wanted me to stay longer but I felt that as a first time call out with this dog a little over 3 hours was perfect for her as it was just the right amount of time. The local Red Cross director texted me after my visit today and thanked me for coming. They have asked me to go back to another shelter but I am waiting for information from them to share with my Regional Director.

The Milpitas Emergency Preparedness Fair was a small gathering of about 6 different agencies providing information for preparing in an emergency. We were set up on a grass area where there was some shade. We walked around before the fair started and made contact with other tables that were present. The general public came through and would come to pet the dogs. Most of the petters were under the age of 5. As the kids were petting, we educated the parents about what HOPE is and does. We also educated folks about the difference between therapy and service animals. The fair was not very busy. Both HOPE team members had a lot of time to bounce HOPE and other dog related topics off of each other.

Provided support for the employees of the office of the medical examiners. Was able to visit 2 buildings this visit.

3M is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in St. Paul MN with +10,000 employees in the Twin Cities area. They have a 200 person Emergency Response Team located on site in various buildings. The 3M ERT also includes local Police & Fire Departments, along with local Hospital Emergency Managers. We were invited to share information about HOPE AACR so the ERTs are familiar with HOPE should the need for our support arise. We gave a short overview (10 mins) of HOPE AACR and then mingled with the crowd. We had a trifold, brochures, info flyers, and membership flyers.

On Monday, September 16th, I received a call from the Child Abuse Services Team (CAST) supervisor asking us to respond to the CAST office reference the death of a co-worker. The death of the employee was extremely tragic and heartbreaking. Jan (Sequoia) and I (Henry) arrived at the CAST office in Orange, Ca at 0845. We were asked to walk around the facility and meet with the staff. We met with about 20-30 staff members for the next 2 hours. Henry and Sequoia were very engaging during this deployment. The staff is always under a high stress due to the nature of their job. The death made for a very distraught atmosphere.

Monthly support group. We are there to support families as they share their stories, updates with courts, etc. They all enjoy loving on Timmy. This was the last time a sister of a murder victim would be attending the group as she is moving out of state. Last year, the first time we came was also her first time and her mother had talked her into coming because a dog would be there. Timmy was one of the "people" she thanked for helping her and encouraging her to keep coming. That was very moving to me and says in a nutshell why we do this.

to provide a break to the staff from their stressful day

HOPE was invited to support the 2 day Colorado Court Employees Conference in Loveland, CO. The Colorado Court Employee Conference (CCEC) is an annually held event offered for court and probation staff to boost and refine their technical abilities, intrapersonal, and interpersonal skills that are required in the workplace. We were requested to specifically attend 2 workshops dealing with Domestic Violence to comfort attendees because of the role playing in the workshop. During the rest of the conference we chose what workshops we wanted to attend. Attendees were so appreciative of the HOPE being there. We also had a table/booth at the conference.

We were contacted by Santa Barbara Police Officer Burleigh who asked us to send one team to Santa Barbara Police Department for debriefing with the harbor patrol after the Conception dive boat incident.
We arrived at 8 am and reported to the Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol for debriefing. After debriefing, harbor patrol took us on their boat. We went to visit the company who lost the boat during the incident. We also visited the FBI dive team. We stopped by the command center, which the majority of the dispatcher knew us already. Around 4 pm, we went to the vigil. Bagel and I went around the park and visited some of the families. Those families came from all over California. Event end at around 6 pm.

We visited Philadelphia FEMA Regional Coordination Center to provide stress relief. They have been working twelve hour days. We visited the main center, another side office, and a group of young adults who were training to become part of FEMA. A lot of workers said they enjoyed our visit and they felt better, and recharged. On a side note, Ms. Breeland said you look familiar and I thought the same thing about her. When Blizzard and I were deployed to West Virginia Flooding we met her in our travels. She seemed very happy with our visit and commented on how the mood of the office changed as soon as Blizzard came, so hopefully we will be invited back for future visits.

This was the second day of a two day deployment following the death of a 7th grader who collapsed on the football field during practice the previous Wednesday. As per our usual response protocol, we deployed at the entrance to the school as the students arrived as well as in the hallways between classes throughout the day. Kay and Maia also deployed for a brief period to the elementary school.

Since it had been a week since the death of the student, things had mostly returned to normal at the school. However we did give some comfort to a few students throughout the day. Because the funeral was to be held at the school late that afternoon, we stood by until students were dismissed in case there was a need. There was none. It was determined that we were not needed before, during, and after the funeral.

The first two clients were very much routine, a three yo girl and a teen girl and a parent for each. We spent time in the playroom with the 3 yo and in the lounge area with the teenager whom I was able to engage in a conversation about dogs. She liked Lyrrik a lot and couldn't stop talking about her Aussie Cattle Dog, a rescue that really is HER dog, snuggles, protection and all. The third client, another teenage girl arrived with an armed escort and an entourage representing many different agencies. She was not at all interested in Lyrrik stating 'I just took a shower' so I offered him to the many adults assembled for her interview. Several were very appreciative and just his presence in the room seemed to slightly reduce the anxiety and tension. After well over an hour with the third client, it appeared the interview was going to take quite a long time, more than the usual, especially given the number of agencies present. Since the client hadn't shown any interest in Lyrrik, I asked Jen if there was any point in our staying any longer and she agreed there really wasn't anything more we could offer and she was very grateful for our visit. She remarked that the HOPE visits are always so much appreciated.

Request received by RD Nick Meier to deploy to Saranac Public Schools for a middle school student that had died during football practice. This occurred in view of many people due to two separate sporting events being held that day. The activity of Fire/Rescue and EMS on scene as well as the helicopter landing drew a large crowd to the field.

The team arrived at 0700 and the TL made contact with the assistant principal and superintendent as the principal was on vacation. We were briefed on the events of the day. The social workers were not present yet so the teams deployed to the entrances for the arrival of students. After the students were in class we were able to go to our break room and meet the counselors and mental health professionals. Everyone present was happy to have us there.

Throughout the day we sat in on one on one sessions with staff and 8 high risk students. We also deployed to the halls on breaks as well as a lunch held just for the football team. Initially one team deployed to the elementary school while the remainder stayed at the Junior/Senior high building. Later in the afternoon the remaining teams went to elementary. Right after the lunch the family of the student asked to bring the rest of the siblings in to meet the dogs in a private session which we accommodated.

Due to there being a four day holiday weekend the initial trauma of the event seemed to have worn off. There was not much emotion or distress being displayed. Students seemed glad to meet the dogs but it was difficult to judge how effective they were being at providing comfort versus just being happy to meet a dog.

Overall Day 1 went very well and we were well received. We made several good contacts with professionals that took copies of the tri-fold brochure for future use. We also got two new teams off to a good start and they did great.

We were asked to be present at the Stem School for the first lock-down drill of the year since the shooting. We were there to offer support to the staff and students.
We arrived and were ushered in to get our ID's . We were placed in a room with another team of therapy dogs. Where we waited during the lock down . After 20 minutes , we were escorted to the high school . All of the dogs in the room were well mannered and handlers had good control of their dogs. The other therapy group with their dogs went to the middle school and elementary school.
We were lead to the cafeteria in the high school and placed in a comfortable space where the student came in and were comforted by the dogs.
Dawn and Keeper were asked to go into the counseling office where they met with a couple of students having a difficult time. Serena went with her. Sandy was out with us in the cafeteria.
Students gathered around the dogs and petted them , some comforting each other asking if they were okay. The students were so happy to see the dogs and enjoyed their time with them as did the staff.
This was a difficult day for all. We were asked if could come back on the anniversary of the shooting. Which was really special, we know our dogs did good work to be asked to come back. Having team leads was valuable for us.

We offer a break to staff during their stressful day.

Gus and I were deployed to the sentencing trial involving a crime committed against a client of the Victim Assistance program. He is diagnosed with severe PTSD. This was a continuation of a court date the previous month when we met our client but the trial was postponed. We met his case manager in the DA's office for Victim Assistance prior to the trial and revisited case managers CGC HOPE members met in March to start our participation. We also shared HOPE information with Jalayne Robinson, the state coordinator for Victim Services.

We waited with our client and his mother, along with the case manager, in a small consultation room at the back of the courtroom prior to the trial starting. Gus helped comfort him during a court recess after an emotional meltdown while testifying. He was able to continue his testimony and later read his impact statement to the judge following this recess. The prosecutor and case manager commented that he was much more composed during the second part of the trial.

We started by visiting the new offices on Sabre Rd of some folks affected by the shooting at the public works building in May. The workers just moved to their new building this week.
After lunch, we moved to City Hall & visited people at the Office of Volunteer Resources. For about an hour & a half, people stopped by and visited with Aslan. As we were leaving, we were asked to visit an office on the first floor. There was a woman there with mobility challenges that made it more difficult to get to the office on the second floor. When we stopped in downstairs, we ended up spending another half hour visiting a whole other group of workers.

Waiting with a teen and her step father for their interviews at Safe Passage.The staff loves when our dogs come in and spends time with them also.

We supported the monthly meeting of families who have lost children and family members by murder.

Visited Officers, staff, administration, employees, etc. throughout the four floor Operations Center as an ongoing Employee Welfare service. HOPE teams are enthusiastically welcomed and greatly appreciated.

The town of Campbell hosted this evening for it's citizens. Fire personal, police, Cal Fire,the Mayor and veteran support were all in attendance.
Talks were given by each representative with time for questions afterwards.
There was great concern and interest in the current and future brush reduction by PG&E.

Keeper and I were asked to come to Safe Passage on Monday at 9am. Our contact Jen said it was a very busy day for them. We spent time in the lounge area with several parents and children. We spent most of our time in the playroom with many young children. At one point there were 4 families there. Keeper remained calm even with 4 young boys playing war with transformers and race cars. I was so very proud of her. Most of the children stopped by for a short interaction but there were 3 who seemed to need her more. Keeper demanded (in her own subtle way) to visit with a police officer that was there. At the end, one of the young girls came up to me to say good bye. She gave me a hug and thanked me for letting her pat Keeper. That was one of the best hugs I have gotten in a long time!

I was asked to assist two young boys, ages 12 & 15, as they were called to court to give pre-trial testimony against the mother's boyfriend who had allegedly assaulted them. The defense attorney did not allow Cinder or myself to be present during their actual questioning, however, we were able to give lots of hugs and snuggles before and after. The youngest boy, (12), found great comfort in being able to pet Cinder while he tried to calm down. In fact the entire family, mother & older sister as well, found Cinder to be very comforting during this process. The defendant pleaded no contest, thus a trial was averted and he was immediately sentenced. The mother and older sister were able to give statements before he was sentenced. During their absence I stayed with the boys and we chatted about their dog, a one yr. old pit bull, school, etc. Cinder gave them high-fives, shook paws, rolled and got belly rubs. The stress meter seemed to go down appreciably.

Comforting two families of preteens with their parents during interviews with detectives and counselors.

We were asked attend the Royal Family Foster Kids birthday in Lake Arrowhead, CA. We arrived at 1500 and did our "meet and greet" with the dogs. We then proceeded to the "carnival" area of the camp to attend the birthday party. The dogs were a big hit. The camp photograph had the dogs take a pictures with ALL the campers and staff. We left at 1700.

The Synack group donated their conference booth to HOPE AACR at the annual Black Hat Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
Annual attendance for Black Hat USA is around 15,000 ...this was it's 22 year.
We were flown in the day before the conference started on 8-6-19. Abby and Gertie met at dinner in our hotel. We were at the conference
Wednesday, 8-7-19 for 5 hours and Thursday 8-8-19 for 4 hours. Synack had a great corner booth for us. They wanted our group to have the best possible exposure to share our HOPE AACR mission with attendees. On the first night we were also asked to meet in the Synack Hospitality suite with the Synack leaders and USA Veterans. Both HOPE teams flew home on Friday 8-9-19. Lisa Whiting did so much in the pre-deployment to make our trip and set up with Synack a success. Lisa helped set up flight services, talked countless times with our POC with Synack. Even helped Photoshop the photos they used for our cards. Even though she wasn't onsite, she did all the work of
a Team Leader and all the worry if all would go as planned

This was a National Night Out event in Lancaster, PA. It involved Fire, Police, and other community groups.

We were requested to deploy to 3 South Texas counties (Cameron, Willacy and Hidalgo) to interact with FEMA employees and residents affected by the June 2019 flooding. The request came from Steven Wise, Volunteer Agency Liaison Group Supervisor, Mass Care/Emergency, Voluntary & Community Services Branch, Individual Assistance Division, HQ Office of Response and Recovery. We drove to Port Aransas, TX on Sunday, Aug. 4 and spent the night to break up the drive. The next day (Monday), we arrived at the DRC #2 – Willacy County, Community County Safe Room in Raymondville, Texas about 0900. Our contact person was DRC Manager - Glorimar Reyes-Soto. There were about 25 employees present. The FEMA employees were very happy to have the dogs there, and interacted with them until the DRC opened. One employee contacted local news and newspaper to come out and interview us. We were interviewed by 3 local news channels (channel 4 and channel 5 and Telemundo out of Harlingen) and one local newspaper. We left around 4 pm to return to our hotel for the night. We probably had about 175 interactions between 3 teams.

The next day (Tuesday), we drove deeper into South Texas to DRC #3 – Hidalgo County, in La Villa, Texas 78562. Our contact person was DRC Manager - Eleana Cruz-Mackliff. We arrived about 0830 and met with Eliana. We set up and immediately starting interacting with FEMA employees and clients. We were scheduled to stay just a few hours. Between 3 teams, we interacted with about 75 people before leaving before noon.

We then drove further into South Texas to DRC #1 – Cameron County, La Feria Safe Room, La Feria, Texas. Our contact person was DRC – Manager Elbert Ruiz. Since it was after lunch, it was already busy. We interacted with about 100 people before leaving around 1500. We then headed home, by way of Kings Restaurant in Riviera, TX. We interacted with about 15 people here and left to return to Port Aransas to spend the night. The next day (Wednesday), we drove home to the Houston area. In total, we drove about 850 miles in 3 days (Texas is a BIG state).

Carmen Franco, Senior Administrative Specialist Children and Family Services of Ventura County, contacted HOPE AACR asking for teams to visit 3 locations that have been dealing with the aftermath of a child death. I deployed to the Simi Valley location with my dog Maverick. We arrived early at 1:30pm and were taken into a large private lobby with an empty circle of chairs. Upon our arrival, our presence was announced on a loud speaker and employees came out to take seats and unwind with us. Maverick greeted each person as they came through the door and proceeded to wag his way around the circle, spending a bit of quality time with each person (sitting against their legs for hugs or offering himself up for belly rubs) while still staying aware of the others and moving around to greet everyone every few minutes. They clearly enjoyed our presence and had fun taking photos of him and sharing his trading card. After a while we were brought back into the main office area and walked around the cubicles to greet individuals who had not come out to the lobby. Several people sat down on the floor, right there among the cubicles, to enjoy doggy hugs, butterfly kisses, and belly rubs. We finished our visit with a group of interns who were brought to us during a break in their training. After their trainer took a group photo, the interns all gathered on the floor around Maverick and shared stories about their pet dogs while the trainer shared how a previous HOPE visit with Jodi and Daltrey helped them after the fires last year. They seem very grateful to have HOPE AACR as a resource.

For this visit, I spent the first two hours in Building 19N, then the second two hours in Building 1.
The difference this week is that the employees in Building 19N are relocating in approximately 2 weeks.
While this is a relief for some due to the overcrowding, it is also anxiety-provoking due to new surroundings in a large space, with resulting security concerns.
I told M.K. that Uno and I could continue monthly visits, and scheduled the next visit for Wed. Aug. 28.

We were invited to represent HOPE at Cheryl Wilson's retirement party. Cheryl has been our contact at the Navy Yard for years.

At the request of the American Red Cross via WI-VOAD, HOPE teams were invited to support relief agencies at the two-day Oconto County WI Multi-Agency Relief Center in Mountain, WI. The MARC was set-up to assist local residents following several tornadoes and a Macro-Burst that devastated the area. We set-up in the center of the room with all the agencies surrounding us. This set-up enabled the residents requesting aid to visit with the comfort dogs while awaiting services. It also enabled us to visibly entertain children allowing their parents the opportunity to meet with the individual agencies to receive information and assistance.

This was a quick peer support call out for the aftermath of the Garlic Festival Shooting. Our primary response was peer support with the first responders, of which only those from American Medical Response were present. The event was still unfolding and many first responders were held on scene. We were able to provide support to 2 of the first ambulances that were on scene and transported patients. There was hope of being more attendees, but after the request came out, the Incident Command pulled units back in and held them till close to midnight. At that point, we determined that our services with HOPE and the peer support probably weren't going to be utilized today and it would be best to disband. This situation is still evolving and there will probably be more requests for our HOPE teams later in the coming weeks.

There were 2 helicopters that flew in for this ceremony. The Air Medical Honor Guard presented the colors. The reading of the Honoree names were read. The families were able to get up and talk about their loved one. After a moment of silence the bagpiper played Amazing Grace. It was a very moving ceremony that gave tribute to the ones who died saving lives.

This purpose of this deployment was to provide comfort to a young man with severe PTSD for his court appearance in the sentencing of the man convicted of Aggravated Robbery against him. We arrived at 7:30 am, expecting our client to arrive at 8:00, but he and his twin brother were already in the courtroom waiting area and very happy to see us. He was visibly comforted by petting and talking to Gus for the next hour as we waited for the sentencing trial to begin. He would have the opportunity to speak in court about the impact this crime has had on his life and was anxious about the sentencing outcome, particularly to know if there would be prison time or this man would be free on probation, and a risk to him. At 9:00, his case worker learned that the trial would have to be continued until Aug. 22. The Harris County jail unit was quarantined with no inmates leaving to make court appearances. We met one of the prosecutors and the judge, who were very happy to see in person the impact of this new program by HOPE with the Victim Assistance Unit. She invited us into the courtroom with our client to be familiarized with the setting. Our client wanted assurance that we would be there for him when the trial is held in August because it was so much comfort to him. Plans were made for the Victim Assistance Coordinator to contact HOPE to confirm when we are needed.

We were invited back to support attendees at the 2019 Air Medical Memorial Service. Every year, hundreds of thousands of air medical missions are flown in the United States. These missions provide expedited life-saving care to sick or injured patients when seconds count and at a moments notice. Sadly, these crews do not always return. This memorial honors those individuals who took on the mission in the name of saving lives, but lost their lives in the process. The Air Medical Memorial is the only national memorial recognizing all air medical losses and the only memorial dedicated to recognizing the sacrifice of more than 400 air medical crew members. On Friday night the Memorial Lights recognizes each sacrifice given to Air Medical Services since the early 1970's. A candle representing each honoree will be placed by hand, starting at sunset at the Memorial Site. This is always a very emotional and touching ceremony for those who have lost loved ones. We see many of the same families every year who want to continue to remember their loved ones. They travel from all over the US and Nationally.

The Disaster Program Manager for the Valdosta Chapter of the American Red Cross (ARC) died suddenly and unexpectedly. He was a long time employee and was greatly loved by many people. His funeral was attended by a relatively large number of ARC personnel, including many leaders of the Georgia Region. This was a full military funeral at the Andersonville National Cemetery (for veterans). It was extremely hot and three shots we're fired by the honor guard. Many of the attendees, mostly immediate family, friends and ARC personnel, interacted with Butterscotch. They expressed appreciation that Butterscotch attended the funeral. Many had met her in previous disaster deployments and ARC meetings. The widow thanked us profusely and said that Butterscotch made her day! Several of the military personnel present (about 8 individuals) happily interacted with Butterscotch.

We used the opportunity to interact with the new Regional Disaster Officer (in charge of all Georgia disaster activities) and provide a brochure and contact information. We told her HOPE AACR had Georgia and other teams around the southeast that were available to assist in future disaster opportunities.

CSPD requested our support at this ICAC training/work session where Detectives/Investigators from our local department along with Officers from surrounding states were tasked with categorizing images of child victims (approximately 59 million nationwide). This week long meeting was taking place simultaneously with agencies across the country including the FBI. In addition to mental health professionals, massage therapists, and a stress relief/break/snack room, HOPE was asked to bring our four-footed angels to help relieve the 'vicarious trauma' to attendees at this incredibly difficult assignment.

Our HOPE dogs were enthusiastically welcomed and loved on by event organizers, attendees, support staff, hotel staff and profession specific vendors as well. In spite of the oppressive nature of this event, once the officers reached the break/stress relief room, nearly all were ready and open to the lighter atmosphere at sight of the dogs as they entered the room. Hardly a person could walk past without touching a dog and many of them just sat on the floor with them and soaked up their love. It was a privilege and extremely touching to witness their affect transformation. One Officer in conversation with Ann and me said "I can't describe it, but like yesterday with Lucas, Grace and Roxie, we'd pet them and they would absorb all the negativity." His face softened as he spoke relating his experience to us. I could never count the number of times "Thank You for being here" was heard throughout the day.

In debriefing with Ann and Joetta, we all were struck with how many networking opportunities presented themselves among the organizers we spoke to. Near the end of the day and after learning a little more about HOPE, they all were led to opportunities to utilize us and we felt confident we'd get requests in the future.

Members of a special task force of the CSPD and the Sherrifis Department , and others from across the country were at the Antler’s Hotel for a week of training and work involving crimes against children. The officers were in training for mental health techniques to help them cope with the work that they do. After the training portion of their week, our teams were invited to help the officers as they looked at over a million pictures of crimes agains children. As they spent time working, they needed to decompress. They would come out of their training room and headed right for the dogs. We were a distraction for the horrible things they were seeing inside. Our dogs gave them a chance to decompress and think of happy things. The trainers were thrilled we were there to help the officers as were the officers

This was our third visit to the LA Coroner's Office of which Calvin now recognizes and looks forward to visiting. We visited their staff from each of the three buildings and Calvin also met some new staff which were not working on the day of our previous visits. There are about 250 employees total and about 175 at any given time. Introducing Calvin and the national organization of HOPE AACR to new individuals is very good exposure. There continues to be great enthusiasm with our visits. An interaction with a employee veteran with PTSD was helpful as he discussed his interest in getting not he waiting list for a service animal. He had a great interest in hugging Calvin. Calvin continues to make a very positive impression on the staff as if they have adopted him as their mascot. I was diligent on supplying Calvin with water several times during our visit.

HOPE was contacted to assist employees with a death of an employee's only child. The accidental death occurred late last week. The mother and her coworker were driving back from out of town and were notified that the child had been hit by a car and died. This is a very close office with 10-12 employees who provide child care resources and referrals to 6 counties in Montana. Gail, Lamar and I met outside of the office. Gail stayed outside while I made contact with POC Kristin Horne. Kristin showed me through the office and were she would like the canine team to visit with employees. One employee was allergic to dogs, but she was not at the office and she previously stated she was OK with the canine team coming through. I met the staff and each was asked by POC if they were OK with the canine team coming through. All employees were in agreement. Gail and Lamar came in and met with Kristin and began going from office to office. As the team leader I waited in the lobby and talked with the Executive Director. Gail and Lamar visited with 9 people and made a second round to cover the people who were busy earlier. The two people who were most impacted, the mother and her coworker were not at the office today. Gail, Lamar, and I waited for the coworker who was expected to come in, but the Executive Director came and let us know that she was not coming in today.

This Operation Purple camp was being held at UC Riverside in the recreation buildings and surrounding areas on UC Riverside campus. We arrived at 9am and met with Carl our POC. National gaurd members were also present and set up a large obstacle course for a confidence and team building exercise. We were asked to stage on a large grass area beside the course and be available to the participants as they waited and completed this exercise. The kids loved the dogs and at any one time each dog had 5-6 kids patting them and talking to us. They were very respectful of both us and the dogs. As always there were a large mixture of emotions. Many talked about their own dogs and others their families. The POC Carl commented to me that he was amazed at how well our dogs did and the response from the children. After everyone had partipated in the obstacle course they did their group camp picture. The kids insisted the dogs joined in and in the front row no less!

Visited with Officers, Dispatch, Admin. Staff and other employees.

The VOAD meeting was held at the American Red Cross Building in San Diego, CA. After introductions, Ryan DeHart of San Diego County OES spoke of the role of VOAD partners. He discussed the need for volunteer groups to attend VOAD meetings, for VOAD partners to provide registration and training within their groups of volunteers, and to connect volunteers to their area of interest. Emergency volunteer centers were discussed and identified, Primary location- County Staff and volunteers for staff (Rock Church, Point Loma). Houses of worship are often a safe outreach for communities.

The recent Ridgecrest earthquake was discussed and created a reassessment of the fault line(s) in San Diego. Evaluation of risk areas, damages and needs. Some organizations (Poway) actually creates simulated events following actual events for preparedness. Poway received a $24,000 grant for emergency techniques and programs. They have "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" and "Neighbors Evacuation Team" programs.

Air support in disaster was discussed by an attending pilot. DART- Disaster Airlift Support was identified as being available in disasters. (Approximate costs: $250 - $300/hr- citation vs other aircraft $4000/hour)
CALDART

We were asked to attend the 17th Annual TOPSoccer Fest for Special Needs adults and children. This was a community event hosted by the local JUSA soccer teams. We were asked to give comfort in the "sensory" area of the event. Our job was to help those who might become overwhelmed with the days activities There were a lot of challenges for the dogs. It was very warm, lots of distractions, lots of challenging visits and we encountered a sports mascot in full costume. All the dogs did very well with all the distractions and visits.

I was called to assist in a domestic violence case, the victim was a teenage girl afraid to testify against her ex-boyfriend. We met the victim and her mother along with the Teresa Fyffe, Victim Advocate, and the attorney, for several hours before the proceedings began. The victim was very nervous, literally shaking constantly and only found relief when she petted Cinder. The defendant chose not to plead guilty in the case, thus, the trial ensued. This news created even more anxiety for the victim. The defense attorney objected vehemently to the presence of a "Courtroom Dog," even to the point of asking the presiding judge for the entire court system to get involved. I gave our attorney the letter stating Cinder and I had extensive training, she was a working dog, etc., etc., and was allowed to be present during the proceedings. The defense attorney still wanted it noted for the record that she objected to the presence of a "Courtroom Dog."

When the victim testified I sat in a chair behind her holding Cinder's leash while Cinder sat at her feet in the witness box. The victim often looked down, smiled, and petted Cinder on the head, it seemed to calm her down a bit. We returned to the gallery to listen to the defendants testimony, hear closing arguments and the judgment. Unfortunately the defendant was found not-guilty. This caused the victim to abruptly stand and storm out of the courtroom. Teresa, her mother and I followed her out into the hallway. After composing herself she seemed relieved it was all over. They all thanked Cinder and me for being there and thought it really helped lessen her anxiety. We rode down the elevator together and said our goodbyes.

Our initial call was to the LAC in Trona which came through San Bernadino County VOAD. The LAC was at Trona High School, the center for community needs in general. Water supply was disrupted due to line breakage; there were two tanker trucks, one with potable water and one not. Pallets of cases of bottled water were brought in by truckload. Many porta potties were out front as the community was also without working sewer.

The temperature was quite high, not only air but ground which is all sand and concrete. Inside was pleasant.

The LAC was in the gym with ample space for all services and a central area for the dogs to be when we weren’t walking around. Kids sat there on the floor, with the dogs, coloring. There was also a kids’ corner which we visited. Client attendance seemed low; the town is very small, less than 2000, so I’m not sure if the numbers were a matter of population or possibly a reticence to come in.

The Sheriff’s Dept. provided meals for staff and community three times a day.

While in Trona, we were invited to the LAC at the Kerr McGee Center in Ridgecrest, Kern County. This was a big facility with a sign in and waiting area, for those who came early, in the front room. It was well staffed including volunteers who escorted clients to the appropriate areas and were on hand to help in many ways. At check in, volunteers talked with clients to assess their needs; clients were given a printed list of all stations and numbers and the ones applicable to them were checked. Folks came in steadily throughout the day.

We walked around a lot but there was ample seating in the central area where the dogs could rest and, again, kids could gather and pet.

We noticed more anxiety among clients than there often is, probably because the earthquake danger was still ongoing. Several counseling services were available and utilized.

At the other end of Kerr McGee was the Red Cross Shelter; it had maybe 100 residents, and several had their own dogs. I visited with folks in the hall, but we did not take the dogs back.

Central World Kitchen provided meals for LAC staff and community.

Before the LAC opened, Bari and Steve were invited take their dogs to the Police Dept. which was next door to visit. They were received very gratefully.

As the Center was set in a grassy area with shade from the building and trees, breaks with the dogs were much easier.

Our initial call was to the LAC in Trona which came through San Bernadino County VOAD. The LAC was at Trona High School, the center for community needs in general. Water supply was disrupted due to line breakage; there were two tanker trucks, one with potable water and one not. Pallets of cases of bottled water were brought in by truckload. Many porta potties were out front as the community was also without working sewer.

The temperature was quite high, not only air but ground which is all sand and concrete. Inside was pleasant.

The LAC was in the gym with ample space for all services and a central area for the dogs to be when we weren’t walking around. Kids sat there on the floor, with the dogs, coloring. There was also a kids’ corner which we visited. Client attendance seemed low; the town is very small, less than 2000, so I’m not sure if the numbers were a matter of population or possibly a reticence to come in.

The Sheriff’s Dept. provided meals for staff and community three times a day.

While in Trona, we were invited to the LAC at the Kerr McGee Center in Ridgecrest, Kern County. This was a big facility with a sign in and waiting area, for those who came early, in the front room. It was well staffed including volunteers who escorted clients to the appropriate areas and were on hand to help in many ways. At check in, volunteers talked with clients to assess their needs; clients were given a printed list of all stations and numbers and the ones applicable to them were checked. Folks came in steadily throughout the day.

We walked around a lot but there was ample seating in the central area where the dogs could rest and, again, kids could gather and pet.

We noticed more anxiety among clients than there often is, probably because the earthquake danger was still ongoing. Several counseling services were available and utilized.

At the other end of Kerr McGee was the Red Cross Shelter; it had maybe 100 residents, and several had their own dogs. I visited with folks in the hall, but we did not take the dogs back.

Central World Kitchen provided meals for LAC staff and community.

Before the LAC opened, Bari and Steve were invited take their dogs to the Police Dept. which was next door to visit. They were received very gratefully.

As the Center was set in a grassy area with shade from the building and trees, breaks with the dogs were much easier.

Our initial call was to the LAC in Trona which came through San Bernadino County VOAD. The LAC was at Trona High School, the center for community needs in general. Water supply was disrupted due to line breakage; there were two tanker trucks, one with potable water and one not. Pallets of cases of bottled water were brought in by truckload. Many porta potties were out front as the community was also without working sewer.

The temperature was quite high, not only air but ground which is all sand and concrete. Inside was pleasant.

The LAC was in the gym with ample space for all services and a central area for the dogs to be when we weren’t walking around. Kids sat there on the floor, with the dogs, coloring. There was also a kids’ corner which we visited. Client attendance seemed low; the town is very small, less than 2000, so I’m not sure if the numbers were a matter of population or possibly a reticence to come in.

The Sheriff’s Dept. provided meals for staff and community three times a day.

While in Trona, we were invited to the LAC at the Kerr McGee Center in Ridgecrest, Kern County. This was a big facility with a sign in and waiting area, for those who came early, in the front room. It was well staffed including volunteers who escorted clients to the appropriate areas and were on hand to help in many ways. At check in, volunteers talked with clients to assess their needs; clients were given a printed list of all stations and numbers and the ones applicable to them were checked. Folks came in steadily throughout the day.

We walked around a lot but there was ample seating in the central area where the dogs could rest and, again, kids could gather and pet.

We noticed more anxiety among clients than there often is, probably because the earthquake danger was still ongoing. Several counseling services were available and utilized.

At the other end of Kerr McGee was the Red Cross Shelter; it had maybe 100 residents, and several had their own dogs. I visited with folks in the hall, but we did not take the dogs back.

Central World Kitchen provided meals for LAC staff and community.

Before the LAC opened, Bari and Steve were invited take their dogs to the Police Dept. which was next door to visit. They were received very gratefully.

As the Center was set in a grassy area with shade from the building and trees, breaks with the dogs were much easier.

Our presence in both LACs was deeply appreciated.

At the debriefing of the deployment on 7/8/19 for the death by drowning of a student, HOPE AACR was requests to assist at the school again. The school was opened to the community for a place to gather after attending the wake. Many students and staff expressed gratitude that the dogs were available again.

Three teams responded to this call at Tahquamenon Area High School in Newberry, Michigan. Even though it was summer vacation, the school opened its doors for any students who wanted to come. Five counselors from various areas, a teacher, and the principal were there for any of the students who needed to talk to someone. The school also had the gym opened for basketball and dodge ball, plus food and small activities in the cafeteria. The three HOPE teams found that staying in the main entrance made the best spot for students and staff as they flowed between the gym and the cafeteria. Even though it was a rather small group of students, they and the staff thanked us for having our dogs there.

Scheduling for these visits went through the City Volunteer Resources office rather than through Bob at VOAD.
On this date, we spent the first 2 hours in Building 1, Room 214 Volunteer Resources, then at Building 19N for the next hour and a half (we left early because we had literally run out of people to see on this day before the 4th of July).

We were contacted by the Bay Area CISM team to respond to a local hospitals peer support leader. They had a group of nurses that had been camping together the week prior and one of their nurses, who was very young, was found dead in the morning. The staff was having a very difficult time and the Bay Area CISM team and HOPE dog teams were asked to be there the week prior for support and then were asked again for the official debriefing. Only Lady Grace and I were present for the debriefing, and she was very well received. I received multiple texts after the deployment from some of the other peer support counselors that this was the first time that there was a dog present, and wished they had the opportunity of having a dog to help people. One counselor said "it was incredible to watch her lay down in the middle and as she was exhaling, everyone's stress level palpably decreased. It was amazing to watch."

We were called on 6/25 to serve the 911 dispatchers at MCSO due to the pending death of a 40 year old dispatcher. The caller expressed that it was a lot of additional stress with everything else that they had going on, so they thought our dogs might lighten their load a bit. Stephanie found most all dispatchers to be in good spirits with no one really expressing any sadness. Jamie and Diane had a similar outcome. Diane stated that she and Jamie found it fascinating to listen in on calls, and really wondered how situations would play out. I found it amazing at how seemlessly these dispatchers flowed from conversations with us to doing their jobs when they received a call. They all seemed to really enjoy the dogs. The times were chosen to hit dispathers from both day and pm shifts

This camp is run by Berks County IU which provides special services to students in public and private schools pre-k through HS. This is a grief camp. We were told most of the deaths were drug related. When we arrived, the camp director ran up to us and requested we see a girl outside the group. She was crying, upset and counselor trying to calm her down.The group had just done a memorial ceremony and lit candles. She immediately connected with Abby, the smaller dog, and was able to pet Libby's back. She returned to the group. Children were called in groups of 3 to visit the dogs. They were able to hug the dogs, Libby rolled over for belly rubs, and the children were shown how to hold Abby safely. The girl we initially saw interacted with both dogs. She was able to pet Libby's head and was much calmer.

Comfort and Support students that participated in Program

Provide comfort and support to students and staff

Supporting Military Children

This was our second visit to the LA Coroner's Office of which Calvin was very happily received again. We visited their staff from each of the three buildings and Calvin also met some new staff which were not working on the day of our previous visit. There was a great amount of conversation since our last visit regarding Calvin and his role as a HOPE AACR member which brought out more staff to meet and great Calvin. Calvin continues to make a very positive impression on the staff and they all wished their own animals were just as calm and comforting as are "all HOPE AACR dogs". Many cards were given out to those staff new to Calvin. We met some medical students from Ireland and Calvin had the opportunity to comfort a young lady that was tearful on the phone talking to her family overseas.

We also had the opportunity to visit with medical physician (coroners), prior to their staff meeting which brought many smiles to their faces.

I was given a card by a staff member of their former K-9 dog - Indiana "Indy" Bones, handler Karina Peck. He was a German Shepherd from the Netherlands and was a Human Remains Detection Canine who worked for the LA County Medical Examiner Office. He has unfortunately passed on, but leaves a legacy of love and professionalism with the LA Coroner's Office.

Lastly, unbeknown to me, the staff wanted to celebrate Calvin's June birthday, so two administrative assistants bought a "dog birthday cake" with Calvin's name on it to celebrate his June birthday; a very thoughtful gesture. Another employee gifted Calvin with as oversized tennis ball. A lot of kindness and appreciation to HOPE AACR in a daily difficult environment.

Comfort and Support students that participated in Program

See my two previous reports. This was our 7th and 8th day of this deployment, in the third week since the shooting. The last few days were especially difficult for the employees, as they were finally receiving some of their belongings left behind at their desks at the time of the building evacuation when the shooting began. Many of these people thought they were exiting the building for a fire drill, while others ran for their lives, seeing co-workers fall and die before them.

This was the bi-monthly Coco. Co. VOAD meeting with attendees from Emergency Management team, County Health, Red Cross, United Way, Coco, Co Court System, etc.
Most of the early discussion concerned the ongoing fires in southern and central Arizona but with an eye to the increasing heat and low humidity in No. Az.

Todd Whitney of the Coco. Co. Emer. Team gave an update on the mass casualty software currently being rolled out, as well as Page, AZ contracting with Coco EMC.

Ben Wilson/Co Health & CC EM discussed the new Emergency Notification System being rolled out to assist in communication with the Access and Function Needs population.

Dustin Kirk of the AZ Dept of Emer Mgmt gave an update from the Whole Community Reliance Summit and also spoke about the Pediatric Disaster Response course that all HOPE teams have been encouraged to participate in in late October. (Confirming it will be held in Flagstaff, not Phoenix.)
He also told us that when people sign up to rent their homes through AirBnB there is a place on the application to indicate if they are willing to offer their lodgings FREE to Disaster Responders. This is something all HOPE members should know about throughout the country.

There was an opportunity at the close of the meeting to tell everyone of upcoming events, I spoke about the AZ Screening in August and the workshop in October, Sybil Smith said she and another northern Az team were eager to participate and had already submitted their applications.

We met at 7:30 for a debriefing and were paired with a therapist. We began going around Building 3500 and we encountered a few people who wanted to talk for an extended period of time. I was supposed to leave at 10:30 am but I felt the conversations were too sensitive and important to leave before we had met with those who really wanted to talk. Many people did not come to work today, two weeks after the shooting.

We were first deployed to the main building at 3500 Dam Neck Rd but as there were 2 dogs already present, we were rerouted after 30 minutes to another building 3 miles away - the former school Building.
We arrived there at 9 am and stayed in t he lobby area at the "dog table" where people could come by and spend time with the dog as needed. After that we went into the other areas - call center and law offices to visit people while they worked at their desks. Spumoni posed in many selfies, absorbed some tears, performed some tricks - including delivering tissues to people.At about 12:30. "MK" the volunteer coordinator came to ask us to visit Bldg 1, as some people there had been directly involved in in the incident were there and asking for dog support.We spent about a half hour there absorbing more tears and doing tricks.

We met at 7:30 am for a brief debriefing, updates, and assignments. We were teamed up with a therapist and sent to walk around and talk to people. The engineering team was being moved and doubling up in offices was required. Many space issues were raised. We went through the main building at 3500 and several trailers and smaller buildings.

We met again with the engineers and the admin staff who were those who directly saw or heard what had happened. Today, everyone wanted to talk. I think they realized they were not going to be able to work until their emotions were sorted out. This was a very raw day. A lot of crying, shaking and sadness. Not as much anger as earlier days. People were begin to talk among themselves and were putting pieces of the story together and seeing where their story fit into the whole.

This was our second day. Many people remembered us. We met in the conference room at 7:30 am, held a brief debriefing from information gained the first day and then left accompanied by two pastors/therapists. We visited many of the same people as yesterday and made a point of visiting those who were at work for the first time since the shooting. More people had been moved to other locations and there were a lot of discussions about personal space, the safety of open spaces, the lack of building security. A lot of comments about safety. A lot of comments about about the city "covering up" what actually happened to save face. A lot of comments about retirement.

A kindergarten student was hit and killed by a pickup truck. HOPE teams were requested by the school shortly after they were notified of the accident. We responded the next morning. Since we had been to Evart High School the previous February for another student death, the school, counselors, and the crisis response team were familiar with HOPE and we all worked together nicely. We met with the counselors and staff before the students arrived to plan the day. This was the last day of school and only a one-half day was scheduled. We did a meet and greet when the children arrived, deployed to classrooms where needed, did individual comfort to students and staff, and participated in an assembly. After the students were dismissed, we participated in a debriefing with faculty and staff.

We arrived to begin meeting with the co-workers of those who had been killed or wounded during the mass shooting. All workers had been given a week off and some were beginning to come back to work. Many were at work for the first time the day we arrived. Many had been assigned to new locations and were having to adjust to new surroundings and the loss of co-workers. After a brief orientation by Bob Pihlcrantz, we were divided into groups of one or two therapist/pastors and a dog team.

The dogs proved to be a great ice breaker and almost everyone began to talk about their own story of the day the shooting occurred, their sense of a loss of safety, fear of being in the workplace, lack of security, and inability to control random actions.

This second visit of the day took place at the actual aquarium in a regular staff meeting in a large conference room. The staff were not directly involved in the shooting, but were affected in different ways. Most of the meeting covered general business, then a mental health expert spoke about stress regarding the shooting, and then the remainder of the time was designated for comfort visits.

I am a member of a 3 county CISM team whose leader is Deputy Vernon Landreth. He called me and asked me to bring Willa and participate in debriefings over 2 days. A manufacturing company had had a natural death, but it was a bloody scene. I debriefed an individual on 6/4 and helped the Deputy with another. Willa and I returned on 6/5 with a mental health member. I debriefed another employee while the mental health worker talked again with one of the individuals from the previous day.

Be Aware, Be Prepared 29 was a community event to educate citizens on how to be prepared for a variety of emergencies. Approximately twenty Governmental and NGO agencies were present.

Metro Health & Medical Preparedness Coalition is a regional intersection between public health, emergency medical services, health care, EM & PS. The Coalition is a collaborative of seven counties, two cities of the first class, and partners serving in and around the Minneapolis-St. Paul Twin Cities Metro Region. They meet quarterly to discuss preparedness practices & collaborations, inviting outside agencies to exhibit and share information regarding services provided. A good venue to reconnect with EM contacts and to make many new ones.

On Thursday, May 24th, I received a call from Emily Craig of Cal Fire advising us that Los Angeles County Fire Department had lost one of their long time dispatchers to a heart attack. Emily stated LACFD had seen our social media post of visits we made to Cal Fire dispatch. Emily gave LACFD my contact information for a possible deployment request. I was contacted by Lead Dispatcher Ed Pickett. Ed asked us if we could respond to the LAFD Command and Control Center Facility in LA on Friday and cover all shifts. On Friday May, 25th, Bari and Star and Henry and I arrived at the Command Center @ 0545. We visited with the midnight shift from 0600 - 0700. We then attended the day shift dispatch briefing @ 0700 and made visits till about 0800. At 1800, Jan and Muffin, Katherine and Teddy and Grace and Bagel visited with dispatchers till about 2000. From all accounts, our ability to respond on such short notice and the fact we were able to send 5 teams astonished the LACFD personnel. They were also amazed by our teams training and calm canines.

The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program is a DoD-wide effort to promote the well-being of Reserve members, their families and communities by connecting them with resources through the deployment cycle. These families are either preparing for or reintegrating after a deployment.

I was initially contacted via email by Paul Parker, Chief Deputy Director regarding Calvin and I being deployed to visit his staff of 250 employees who deal with death in some way or another all day, every day. His focus is on employee well-being and HOPE AACR would be an important part of this master plan of integrating crisis response dogs, chaplaincy programs, mindfulness training and increased availability of psychological and mental health resources.

Calvin and I were specifically referred to him by an attendee of the LA Science Museum Gala of which many of our HOPE dogs attended. I had a phone conversation with Paul prior to our deployment as well as with the Public Information Officer, Sarah Ardalani, who created and sent out a flyer with Calvin’s picture and information on it to all employees notifying them of our upcoming visit.

I was met in the main lobby by Paul and Sarah and for the following 3.5 hours we walked through each department in 3 buildings visiting with all staff that were available. Calvin was so well received by all and even pampered by one employee that brought him designer cookies from Pasadena. Everyone that interacted with Calvin all left smiling and were thrilled to receive a HOPE card from Calvin. At the end of our visit, Calvin received an LA Coroner’s pin and we were honored to be told we were now considered family.

In Paul Parker’s follow-up email from our visit he states that “our visit was the most positive addition to his office in many years.” He saw relationships with his staff and between his staff as well as smiles and happiness that was unobservable prior to our visit. Paul expressed to me that he would like Calvin and I to come up once per month as our time allows as he feels that Calvin has made an impressionable bond with his staff.

I received a call from the Vice Principal late Sunday afternoon requesting a team to visit the school Monday morning in support of a 1st grader who lost his mother very unexpectedly that that weekend. We have been deployed to the school several times before in past years and the school is part of a charter network of schools who have also used our services in the past several years. No other teams were available so I decided to deploy because of the relationships we had created with the administrators. It was an unusual grief support deployment since it was a parent death so impact on other students was minimal. On arriving, I met the VP in her office and she explained the particulars of the situation and that the student was in school, a decision by the father, to put some normalacy in his day after his loss. She asked us to spend the first hour of school with just him and then we would possibly visit the classroom. His teacher brought him to the VP office and stayed for about 10 minutes after introductions, all very “upbeat”, what a sweet dog, etc. then left so it was just Yodi, the boy and I sitting on the floor interacting. The door was open to the hallway so staff walking by would stop when they saw us, stick their head in and comment about the cute little dog, some coming in to pet him, most probably aware of the situation, all pretty “upbeat”. We talked about a range of topic (pets, school, soccer, legos, favorite animals, camp, friends, bikes...) and pet Yodi who laid with the boy. He wiped his eyes a 4 or 5 times during the visit but seemed to be trying to be strong and “normal”. It was rather tough. Once he said “My mother died this weekend and my father lost his car.” Another “Last night I dreamt my mother was alive but I know she’s not”. Walking a fine line between being supportive, “I’m so sorry” and not going down a path that might have taken the conversation deeper, was somewhat challenging. Usually you have Counselors available nearby when that type of support is needed. He really seemed to like Yodi being there and there was pretty constant boy-dog engagement. Another teacher came and got him after about an hour. He thanked us for coming and was pretty excited about Yodi’s trading card, showing it to the teacher and hugging Yodi. We visted with some of the other students for about another 20 minutes in the hallways and lobby area. The VP was in a meeting and there didn’t appear to be further need for us so the admin staff thanked us for being there and supporting the boy and we left.

We were again asked to be a Resource Provider at the CA Air National Guard Reintegration Yellow Ribbon program for 3 Air Wings who had recently returned from deployment. While there we visited and gave comfort to both the servicemen/women and their families. The dogs were definitely a big hit and got big oohs and aahs during the Resource Provider introductions. Many came by several times to visit with the girls.

We were asked by the OCFA Division Commander to visit with the OCFA dispatchers after a couple of weeks of tough calls. We arrived at about 5:45 pm. While waiting in the parking lot for our POC to arrive, we took some pictures of the teams at the gorgeous bronze statute honoring the firefighters. When our POC arrived, he thought it was hilarious with us trying to get the 5 dogs to stay put in order to get the pictures. Our POC escorted us up to the dispatch center. We were greeted by some very excited and appreciative dispatchers, one of which had been on duty on Wednesday when the first round of HOPE dogs visited, so she definitely had to get all of our trading cards to complete her set (for now). We spent the next 2 hours visiting with both the day shift and night shift dispatch crews. It was extremely interesting hearing their stories of what happens on their shifts, how long their shifts can be, how they share the duties, and of course about their own animals. About 1930 hours while we were still on site, a call came in that one of the dispatchers that had just left the center at end of shift, had been in an auto accident on the way home - luckily she was not injured, so everyone took a deep breath.

Staying at the Mainstay Suites in Lancaster for the EUS workshop. Saturday evening we went back to the hotel and met a pastor who asked about HOPE. We told her our mission and she shared that she, her husband, and her 14 yr old son who is autistic had recently lost their house in a fire and were staying at the hotel. They asked for a dog visit, so one of our new teams, Cathy Szur and her dog Reka, came with me to their room. We visited with the whole family and the son did some great interacting with the dog for almost 40 minutes. The visit really helped the son and the parents to reduce stress and have a good evening. Both Cathy and her dog Reka did a great job.

We were asked by the OCFA Division Commander to visit with the OCFA dispatchers after a couple of weeks of tough calls. Jan and I arrived at about 5:45 pm. While waiting in the parking lot for our POC to arrive, we met with an employee who had just lost her Golden Retriever 2 weeks prior. She had a good time visiting with Sequoia and Henry. Our POC escorted us up to the dispatch center. We were greeted by some very excited and appreciative dispatchers. We spent the next 2 hours visiting with both the day shift and night shift dispatch crews.

This was a City & County family friendly event where children can explore a variety of emergency vehicles, including police cars, fire trucks, ambulance, city plows, water rescue, SWAT, a Lifelink helicopter and much more. It was well attended (@ 200). HOPE dogs were a popular stop for the children, many of whom had been prompted by their parents to inquire about the role HOPE teams play in an emergency. It was also a good opportunity to refresh the exposure of our dogs to the equipment.

The Orange County Department of Education sponsors an annual workshop. This year's theme was "Mass Victimization: Natural and Man-Made Disasters - Minimizing the Emotional and Mental Health Impact of Disasters." This was the 8th year that this day-long workshop has been offered.
HOPE AACR was requested to do a presentation highlighting the services offered and the important role that comfort dogs play. Steve Booth, PSW Regional Director, began by showing the video created a few months ago. Jodi Smith followed this with the power point which gives specific information about HOPE AACR. Numerous participants asked questions and shared information about ways in which HOPE has been utilized in a variety of crisis situations. Their comments were positive and very supportive. Once the presentations were over, the dogs were available for petting and offering comfort. The handlers also answered a variety of questions and handed out their dogs' trading cards. The participants were excited and involved in the presentation.

Visited the memory care unit at Rockwood Retirement Community and interacted with the residents. People were there when we arrived and individuals came and went throughout the time period. There was one resident who I was told was very quiet but she asked a lot of questions about Rowdy and loved interacting with him. He connected with her and at one point laid down at her feet just hanging out with her.

Our teams were called in to be present for the debriefing after students experienced a CERT training scenario. Students were in small groups ranging from 4-7 students at each session. The debriefings were led either by school counselors or a local Red Cross counselor. Each dog team was assigned a counselor for the morning classes and due to the smaller number of students only two debriefing were going on at a time, two teams were with one counselor and one team was the other. Students did benefit from the dogs as a time to reflect on what they had just experienced.

We were asked to supply Crisis Comfort dogs for Operation Purple Family Retreat weekend at Camp Surf in San Diego. We arrived at 8:30 and met with our point of contact. She asked us to have one dog support the parents during a group exercise and one dog to support the kids during crafts. This lasted until 10 am. After the groups were finished, we were told to roam around the camp and remain visible to the families. We went to the climbing wall, archery range, beach camp and to the kids nursery room. It drizzled most of the morning. Once the drizzle stopped, the families came out and enjoyed mingling with the dogs.

Multiple storms and mini tornadoes hit on May 9 - trees on houses, wide spread power outages in Carmel and north side of Indianapolis. Heat index was mid 90's heavy humidity. areas where without power for 3-5 days in both cities. Carmel High school opened it's doors to provide a cooling station and electrical for area to recharge cell phones, computers etc.
Families came in, parents and teens recharged and checked emails etc. Games were out for the kids to cool down and wait for charging to be completed.

Charlie was asked to come to offer relief of power outage and family frustrations. We visited with the adults, then spent time with the small kids.

Deployment was for 2 days.

We were asked to attend the Currie Middle School Mental Health Awareness Fair. Our role was to comfort students and staff at the fair. This was the schools first fair and the first exposure to Crisis Comfort dogs. Since there was only 2 teams, and no team leader, we were left to deal with all the very exuberant middle school children. There were two lunch shifts. During the first lunch shift, Henry and Bagel were swarmed by students. I asked the school staff to help with organizing the students so the dogs would not become overwhelmed or injured. One staff member made attempt to help but it was clear she didn't understand what the issue was. I could see Henry was not having a good day and was becoming stressed. After the first lunch shift, I took him to the car to rest. During the second lunch shift, I took the role of team leader for Grace and Bagel. Bagel did a great job of handling the second lunch shift. With me running interference for Grace and Bagel, it was a lot easier for Grace and Bagel to handle the students. After the second lunch shift, we left.

Hope dogs were invited during Staff Appreciation week to provide support and comfort to the High School Staff whom had experienced a "difficult year".

Jan Heppert received a request through Facebook from Debbie-MacNeill-Harr requesting comfort dogs to come to the Hemet Sheriff Station because one of their Explorers had been involved in a very serious car accident. Nikki and I were able to respond. We arrived at the station at 7:15pm and met with Maritza San Nicholas who took us to the room where the Explorers were being told by the Sheriff Chaplain that their friend was not going to make it. There was 32 people in the room of which 20 were Explorers. We were able to walk freely around the room as they talked about Michael and what a great person he was. Many hugged Nikki as they were trying to take in what happened. The evening ended with the Chaplain asking everyone to join hands and make a circle and played the song “How Great Thou Are” and then said a Prayer. We thanked them for asking us to respond and we left around 9:00pm.

Jan Heppert received a request through Facebook from Debbie-MacNeill-Harr requesting comfort dogs to come to the Hemet Sheriff Station. One of their explorers was involved in a car accident that proved to be fatal for him. Ms. Harr was looking for a dog or two to provide comfort to their Explorers, as they broke the news to them. Jan was unable to respond, but contacted me to see if I was available. Nikki and I were able to respond. We arrived at the station at 7:15pm and met with Maritza San Nicholas who took us to the room where the Explorers were being told by the Sheriff Chaplain that their friend was not going to make it. There was 32 people in the room of which 20 were Explorers. We were able to walk freely around the room as they talked about Michael and what a great person he was. Many hugged Nikki as they were trying to take in what happened. The evening ended with the Chaplain asking everyone to join hands and make a circle and he played the song “How Great Thou Are” and then said a Prayer. We thanked them for asking us to respond and we left around 9:00pm.

The Red Cross requested HOPE to support their Shelter of Hope fund raising and awareness event to support local disaster relief. This day the event was held at San Diego State University. We arrived at 1100 and set up on a lawn area to meet with students and Red Cross personal. Finals was the following week so many students stopped by to relieve some finals stress. We have worked along side the Red Cross at many disasters and Star and I connected with several workers about many of these deployments. It was very busy for the dogs and they were a big hit! Red cross personal wanted lots of pictures and the dogs got to check out the disaster van! We departed at 1400 hours.

Calfire Peer Support requested dog teams to visit a member of Calfire that was in the hospital dealing with a difficult illness. We arrived at Inland Valley Medical Center and met with two other members of Calfire Peer Support. We stayed an hour and a half visiting in the room. The firefighter missed their own dog and was so happy to see ours!The Emergency room staff heard the dogs were coming and we received special permission to visit from the hospital director. The dogs visited with the nurses, paramedics and EMTs. We spent around 40 minutes and left around 4:30.

HOPE was asked to participate in the Every 15 Minute Program at Murrieta Valley High School. We arrived at the command center at 7:45 to meet and interact with the students chosen to reenact the crash scene and the 20 living dead students.The dogs were very well received by both the students, Police officers as well as medical staff present. We attended the crash reenactment, then stayed at the school until 2:30 supporting students. At 3:45 we arrived at the Hampton Inn Hotel for the evening dinner and retreat. Several speakers talked to the students about the consequences and punishment for driving under the influence or distracted driving that causes an accident. Afterwards the students wrote their letters to their parents which is always emotional. The evening ended around 10pm. The next morning we arrived at 9:30 for the assembly. I have participated in several E15 programs and usually the assembly involves the dogs with the students and families of the participants. This time we were asked to stage in the bleachers. After the video was played we were asked for a dog to go outside to work with TIP volunteers with students affected by the reenactment video. Soon I was asked to come outside with Star due to the number of students that left the assembly emotionally touched due to their own experiences. After the assembly was over we were asked for a dog back inside to assist some students. Soon both dogs were inside to work with students. We attended the lunch for families and student participants and left around 12:30.

April 25th and April 26th was Great Oak High School Every 15 Minutes Program. Linda and Calvin and Michelle and Sundance arrived at GOHS at 8:30am on April 25th where we met at the command center (Performing Arts Center) to meet Dawn Roppe. We then accompanied the Grim Reaper to several student classrooms and then walked the “living dead” to the PAC.
The crash scene began at 10:00am. The crash left three dead (1 was the tow truck driver) and two injured. The dead were transported to the morgue. One student was transported to the hospital via Life Flight. One student was transported to the hospital via ambulance. The driver that caused the crash was arrested for drunk driving.
After the crash scene, all participants were invited to lunch in the PAC. Then at 2:00pm all involved students were transported via bus to one of two field trips to the jail or to the mortuary. At 5:00 pm the students met up at the Pechanga Government Center for dinner them returned to Pechanga Casino Hotel for the evening program.
TIP and HOPE made presentations to the group followed by Guest Speakers: Juan Carbajal, Bruce Pierson, Allison Pace (DA), Joseph Cristinzani (Senior Investigator) and Ymasumac-Maranon Davis. The final exercise was for the students to write a letter to their parents. During this time, the Hope dogs were walking around comforting the students.
April 26th- the assembly was held at 10:00am. The HOPE dogs were seated in the parent section. Introductions were made followed by a video depicting the previous day car crash and events. Then came the presentation of guest speakers, parent’s letters and student letters to their parents. The assembly ended approximately at 11:30am at which time all participants and their families were invited to the PAC for lunch. Many interactions occurred with the HOPE dogs and participants following the assembly and in the luncheon area.
We left the school about 2:00pm.

We were asked to assist the CERT's Critical Incident Debriefing Team to provide comfort to several agency members who responded to a traffic fatality. We greeted the attendees when they arrived and interacted with the dogs. This set a positive tone for the debrief. Many times during the debrief, attendees looked at Kayak while they were speaking. I think that Ky gave them the comfort needed to share their trauma.

The Learning Center is a school for children from 2.5 years old - 26 years old with mild to severe learning disabilities. A older student choked while at school. The student did not respond to medical efforts. The student had been in a coma for days when the decision was made to remove the student from life support. The students did not know the reason for the HOPE deployment due to their limitations but truly enjoyed interacting with the dogs. The staff were comforted .by the dogs. The director contacted me after the deployment concluded and said “Our teachers and aides commented that they just felt “lighter” today and they loved seeing our kids reacted to the dogs and how they talked about how “cute” they were.” “What you do is truly a gift of hope and we were very grateful for your thoughtful support for our school family.” We worked with deaf, blind and wheelchair bound children.

We worked out of the Library and walked the halls during class breaks. We spent time at the cafeteria as well

High school student committed suicide over Spring Break. We were asked to be present on the day all the students returned to school and facilitate counseling.

Students were affected by a student death by suicide, the 3rd one during their school year. School counselor and social worker occasionally sat in the room with the students, as well as several other staff who dropped in. During this deployment, a few students stayed the entire time. Some returned several times while others dropped in for a brief visit. Some were very quiet, others talked a lot mostly about their lives in general as well as their future plans.

Students grieving another student death by suicide - the 3rd such death in this school year. HOPE dogs were available for students and Staff in a conference room and also during the passing periods. Many students returned several times for comfort. Our first interaction was in a tiny staff room with 2 visibly shaken students. Julie put a blanket on the lap of one crying student so little Deke could sit with her. Very moving as the student visibly became more calm.

Freshman male student death by suicide. A community response organized by a parent invited HOPE to participate. Gathered at the community Lake Ellyn Boathouse along with support personnel from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Alliance of Mental Illness, DuPage County Behavioral Health Services and the Illinois Department of Human Services. Students, parents, local youth leaders, high school faculty and staff attended. Besides providing vital comfort, support, encouragement and well being we made many good contacts among the professional support personnel there.

HOPE was asked to visit the HCOHSEM EOC. This was in response to agencies being activated since the previous weekend because of the ITC Fires in Deer Park, Texas. All levels of government were present and needed some relax time with our dogs.

HOPE AACR Teams visited the elementary and high schools to provide comfort to students in the aftermath of a student death. Teams were stationed in the library and hallways between classes to be available to students in need.

Accompanied a fearful woman into the courtroom and sat with her during the hearing which was very stressful. Because Pepper is small he was able to sit on her lap much of the time.

HOPE was called in after the students were notified of a beloved teacher being removed from life support. Teams arrived as quickly as possible and offered comfort to the students throughout the day. News of the teacher's passing was shared with staff and HOPE teams and was given to the students later in the day at an assembly.

A student was struck by a drunk driver and died several days later. HOPE teams visited the high school to provide comfort and encouragement to students and faculty.

HOPE teams were called to assist school councilors provide comfort to approximately 800 middle school students in the aftermath of a student death. Teams worked alongside Lifeways and Center for Family Health agencies and visited classrooms and the school media center to facilitate individual and group visits.

A student collapsed during gym class. He was taken to a hospital where he later died. HOPE canine teams assisted hospice bereavement volunteers, social workers and counselors to provide comfort to students, siblings and staff.

Deployed to the high school following a student drowning death. The student's body had not yet been recovered. Assisted school counselors as well as CISM teams. Teams were assigned to the student's classrooms as well as his locker to standby. Other teams assisted by sitting in the library and the debriefing rooms. Also deployed one team to the elementary school for part of the day due to other family members at that school. Completed day by participating in the staff debriefing.

HOPE teams were invited back to continue to provide comfort to students affected by a student death in December 2018.

HOPE teams were invited to provide comfort to students after a student death. Students lit up with joy when they saw the dogs ready to greet them as they arrived to school. After students reported to class and the dogs had a brief respite, we positioned ourselves in the main hall and were visited by a steady stream of staff and students. Several staff and students shared that they felt the dogs were making a huge difference in their school's resiliency.

HOPE teams deployed to the high school to provide comfort to students in the aftermath of two student deaths. We were set up in a private conference room with the door open. The Assistant Principal sent an e-mail to all faculty and staff to let them know HOPE teams would be present and to send students over that staff felt needed or wanted extra support. Faculty, staff and students all dropped in throughout the day.

HOPE teams responded alongside other crisis response agencies to several schools in the community to provide comfort to staff, faculty, parents, students and community members. Our handlers and canines visited classrooms, group situations and individually.

We were called at 6:40 AM and asked to be at the school by 8 AM with HOPE canines to provide support to K-6 students after the passing of their classmate and his father in a house fire. The mother and infant sibling escaped. Teams arrived on time ready to meet and greet at the entrance, then remained all day to visit in classrooms or individually as needed.

HOPE was asked to offer comfort to faculty and staff following an afternoon of training and an active shooter drill. Our 3 teams were made available to the school in the front entryway and staff was informed that we were there if they would like to see the dogs. We also connected with tribal police and our local emergency preparedness coordinator, who listed HOPE AACR in their resource files.

Two well-loved teachers died under traumatic circumstances. The situation was a shock to the school and the community. HOPE teams were available for friendly visits in classrooms, individual visits with the dogs or to help escort kids to a counselor.

American Red Cross, Command Center (HQ), Critical Incident Stress Management, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Shelter - United Methodist, HOPE Agency Respresentative participated in a CISM debrief.

MWR and SER region HOPE teams provided comfort and encouragement to those affected by Hurricane Florence at the American Red Cross Command Center, Shelter - Christ the King Church and New Hanover Medical Center (CISM).

While en route to another HOPE deployment, witnessed an auto accident. Assisted an elderly man and an 11 year old boy to safety. Checked on safety of other young man driver. All were ok and in shock. No police or EMS yet. Retrieved Charlie from the backseat and we stayed with the victims until help arrived. When EMS/police arrived, they took over the scene and even interacted with Charlie, thanking us for offering support and comfort.

Comfort students and staff during placements test

Comfort students and staff

HOPE Teams provided comfort and encouragement to students after a school shooting over 2 days. Visited staff and students in classrooms, hallways and the commons. After school let out, teams went into town to visit first responders, sheriff's office and detention. They were very appreciative of the special visit.

Two students were killed in a car accident. I reached out to the school and received an invitation to respond. We arranged a meeting with the crisis team to work out a plan for the dog's involvement. HOPE dogs were stationed at the two main entrances of the school to meet and greet students and staff. Teams also roamed the halls or visited classrooms as requested. This was a first deployment for several teams and they all took initiative and did an outstanding job.

This was our second deployment to this school. HOPE dogs provided comfort to students who had lost a friend to leukemia. We met students at the entrances and then joined them in the gym where there was an assembly. A letter from the student to his fellow students and to the teachers was read. We spent the rest of the day in the hallways, the office or in a room that was set aside for us.

Auto accident involving a father/daughter and another student while they were on their way to a college class. HOPE teams arrived at the school the following morning to meet with school staff and counselors to plan the response. One team went to the victim's first hour class and stood by while another staged in the library. Spent the rest of the day in the library or the hallway between classes.

HOPE teams visited the school to help students deal with the stress of the CERT exam. While on site, staff made teams aware that a student recently lost a close relative, still in funeral planning stage. She was very upset. One team spent extra time with her.

Students witness civilian dressed police officers in pursuit of a suspect. HOPE dogs were well received and provided much relief for students and the teacher.

HOPE teams responded to the school in the aftermath of a student death. Teams staged in the wrestling room where there were mats on the floor for comfortable visits. School counselors set up tables and stations in the room and worked with students in groups alongside HOPE dogs. Spent a lot of one on one time with students and staff. Comments from social media: "Thank you so much for giving of your time and allowing Bella to help these children during this tragedy." "Thank you my friend for being there." "Thanks again for the light you brought to our building."

A student was killed in a car accident. We staged a meet and greet in the commons area of the school when the student arrived alongside hospice and crisis response counselors. We then made trips to individual classrooms as needed. The dogs were well received and all were appreciative we were there.