New Members for Paws

We had a very successful workshop and evaluation this weekend and are excited about the new folk who are joining Paws. These were some of the nicest evaluations we have seen a very long while. The team was much impressed.

Brian Knight and his yellow Lab are from Beaumont and one of Perry's students. We anticipate his Paws application coming soon. Will be volunteer ing at the hospital

Mary Brewer and her Italian Conan(Mastiff like), Mercy, have turned in their application. They live in Tarkington (321 between Dayton and Cleveland) and are interested in the nursing homes and in the schools in Tarkington. Mary has a brindle Mastiff (Tank) who tested, but it was decided Tank would be better off re-tested in February.

Seawillow Edwards and her lovely yellow lab, beautifully mannered, excellent handling, rated a Delta Complex on first go. This young lady was so excited she was near tears and needed a hug. They will be volunteering at the hospitals and nursing homes in Beaumont.

James Shepherd and Gypsy (German Shepard Dog---seizure alert service dog) are already visiting in the schools at Winnie (they live in Fannett and Annette--wife-- works in the Chamber County schools). They plan to become a READ team.

Kathy Smartt and Bullet (terrier mix--looks a lot like Spots but no long ears) live in Sour Lake and will follow Kathy's father to volunteer at both hospitals and hopes to begin the READ program in area schools.

Sara Gubala has joined Paws, but her Springer Spaniel to be Pet Partner is not old enough to test, so Sara will be getting her volunteer applications in and shadowing done so they will be ready come February.

Send a welcome to all. We are encouraging them to become involved in the Forum.

I need pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need a picture of each of our new teams. Need the handler with the dog and one of just the dog. Also need pictures along the way of you and your dog involved in activities (remember to get photo consent signed). But right now I need the pictures.

I need these for the newsletter and Denice and I need these for making your business cards, bookmarks, Get Well Cards. We need to know if you went ITA or Delta or Both. Also do you want your personal e-mail address on the documents or prefer the Paws e-mail and after I scan the e-mail forward it to you.

Send the pictures via a CD or to my personal e-mail address (Sometimes those on yahoo are so grainy) russelljr@awesomenet.net

ALSO, New members: Please contact Niesy and order your Paws T-Shirts. The red or greenT-shirt is part of your initial membership fee. If you want a scrub jacket like I wore at the workshop and evaluation, Niesy will tell you the difference $$$wise. The Delta Patches are Green and white; the ITA patches are red and white so that may determine the color shirt you order. The three colors accepted are Hunter Green, Red, or Tan.

You can go on the membership list (up above) and send Niesy a Personal Message (PM).

Hi Jo Ann - Do you need a picture of Kennedy and I now or do you want me to wait until after we test? Also, I attended a volunteer orientation session at Harbor Hospice last Friday. As of now they do not have anyone doing pet therapy there but they would like to have people come. If I decide to volunteer there once Kennedy passes her tests, do I need to do a facility agreement form since this will be a new location for pet therapy work for PAWS?

Thanks!
Sara

Yes, I would like to go ahead and get your pictures. I know you are going to do great when February comes.

Great Job. Appreciate you going out and making contacts.

Yes, would you use the facility agreement in the back of your Delta manual and ask the administrator to fill it out. Remember to assure that person that all of our folk, Paws, are volunteers and there will never be a charge from Paws for their services. Send the affiliate agreement to me NOT to Delta.

One of my concerns with Delta is a recent contact with some of my facilities. This contact from Delta read as if it was necessary for the facility to pay the $100 affiliation fee inorder for our members to continue serving. NOT SO. But the wording was very misleading and cause some concerns.

Please get the information on this facility so that others in your area can set up a chance to visit there. Are volunteers required to do an orientation? Are the patients all in nursing homes or are there some in their personal residences? Like to know more about the program.

For Harbor Hospice, they have a mandatory volunteer orientation, it is usually held the last Friday of every month, it lasts about 3.5 hours. At the orientation, you watch videos, complete the volunteer application form, have lunch and take a tour of facility. To volunteer at Harbor Hospice, everyone must also do a drug test, which is at a place near the I-10 interchange and Harbor Hospice gives you the forms and then you just go and do the test. At Hospice, they do have a facility off of North Major drive and they have about 30 beds there and they also have patients in their own homes and some also in nursing homes. What they want is for people to visit the facility and that can be done at anytime, I told the volunteer coordinator that because we have dogs we need to visit not around meal times. They would like for people to visit patients who are little more with it and they will tell you at each visit who you can visit. The volunteer coordinator is Ina Messina and she has said that she will meet a team there the first time they visit so that she can show the team around. She did give me a place in the facility that can be used as a water station for our dogs or a place for us just to take a break. I told the volunteer coordinator about our organization and our policies and she was pleased with what we do. Her only criteria for pet partners teams to visit is to attend an orientation session (you can schedule one by calling Harbor Hospice or by contacting the volunteer coordinator - Ina Messina at 409-840-5640 or imessina@harborhospice.com) and also to show the coordinator a copy of our registrations, I think our tags for the dogs and our id's will suffice. If anyone has questions, please let me know. Once Kennedy tests, I will go ahead and do the facility agreement for them, I only have the one for ITA though as that is the book I have, I will try to get a copy from Perry from the Delta book and also submit that one as well.

Thanks!
Sara

Sara, the ITA facility agreement is all we need. I just want one for our (Paws) records so it does not matter.

I will be setting a Membership meeting in January in Beaumont. This will be a great opportunity to have this administrator come and speak for a moment to the assembled group. Let you know the exact date and time.