Volunteer Spotlight | Roger Biesel, Founder & Director, Animals Healing People-Therapeutic, Inc.
The Mission of Animals Healing People is Simple: Relieving stress and helping the rehabilitation of military persons and others who suffer from physical injury or emotional issues by providing them with a "comfort" shelter pet (canine or feline) for the love, comfort, and companionship such pets can provide.
The organization has two goals:
1. Healing Vets (and others)..." In essence, coming to the aid of our country's military, present and past, who have sacrificed so greatly as well as others in the community;
2. "...While Saving Pets. " That is, providing intelligent sensitive pets who provide relief from stress, endless and unconditional love and loyalty, with a loving home in which to live out their remaining years.
Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Roger Bisel, Founder and Director of Animals Healing People, Inc. Roger uses VolunteerSpot's online signup sheets to keep volunteers informed, help organize them into groups, and schedule their visits.
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Please tell us about your organization and your volunteer needs.
We are just 8-months old and have spent most of our energies on creating the organization called "Animals Healing People-Therapeutic, Inc." Our motto is: "Healing Vets (and others)...while saving Pets." However, our basic endeavor is to place shelter pets appropriately with anyone suffering stress due to emotional or physical issues. This will involve in-the-home placement of a cat or dog, or as an option equine-therapy for those to whom it would apply as recommended by their healthcare provider and dependent upon availability of an appropriated accredited equine riding-facility within reasonable distance.
To help our Wounded Warriors (and veterans) relieve stress in making the transition back to home, we are attempting to partner with military and veteran organizations such as the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, etc. They have the initial population of concern to what we are trying to accomplish plus they have the structure and organization to help us expand nationwide. We are, however, equally dedicated to helping non-military individuals such as autistic children and other adults.
We are just beginning to address operations, that is, the identifying of potential pet-recipients and the appropriate selection and placement of the pet. Because we are aware that shelter canines are largely, behavior-wise, an unknown quantity, and some cats can be too, the careful matching of a pet with a recipient and their household is the most critical factor since we want to minimize the possibility of adverse incidents in the home and the return of pets for reasons of unsuitability.
Our need for volunteers initially will focus on
- persons with animal experience
- the discipline to go through a multi-step process in selecting the pet at a shelter (or elsewhere)
- the ability to perform initial housebreaking and obedience training
The number of volunteers just to perform this basic function is 3-6. Other volunteers are needed to help raise funding and to help out with various administrative functions. We don't have numbers for those groups as yet. As we expand, our need for volunteers will too.
Explain how you use VolunteerSpot to coordinate these volunteers.
We will use VolunteerSpot to keep our volunteers informed of what we are doing as we move along, to help organize them into groups according to function, to schedule their appearance at appropriate places and times, and to give them a quick & easy method of responding.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
Remain in touch and don't volunteer unless you can follow-through.
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
It has a highly robust and reliable structure and is simple and easy to use. As we become more sophisticated as an organization, we will subscribe to the full program and gladly offer suggestions for improvements.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your organization or volunteering?
For more information see our website at http://animalshealingpeople.org,; call me/us anytime 9-9 ET, 7/365; write to us at
AHP, P.O. Box 1265, Elizabethtown, KY. 42702-1265; make a generous contribution to a truly noble cause
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Roger BieselFounder & Director
Animals Healing People-Therapeutic, Inc.
270-982-5500
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We salute Roger and all the other parent volunteers out there making a difference in our schools. If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at [email protected].
