Statements
Mission
Working to change lives every day through the unconditional love and service of an assistance dog
Background
Retrieving Independence, Inc. (RI) is a nonprofit organization started in 2012 to train and place highly skilled service dogs to assist in "retrieving independence" for people with mobility disabilities, seizure disorders, diabetes, as well as mental disabilities. RI began raising and training dogs which we purchased or were donated by breeders. We soon learned that to be able to grow our organization and to place quality dogs with the health and temperament to meet our standards it was necessary to start our own breeding program. With the birth of our third successful litter of nine beautiful Labrador puppies we initiated a prison training program called 'Serving With Canines.' The program began in August 2012 in cooperation with the Tennessee Department of Corrections at Turney Industrial Complex in Only, Tennessee. In August of 2019, the program expands into the second facility, Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center (formerly TN Prison for Women).
Impact
In 2019, we graduated 10 dogs and placed them with their recipients. Our breeding program continues to be successful. We had two liters of puppies in 2019, purchased 10 puppies to support our expansion, and placed 28 of these puppies in training. We are at max capacity at Turney Center with 18 total dogs in training. Due to the success at the Turney Center, TDOC has asked the RI to expand and in the fall of 2019, 8 new dogs were placed for training by female inmates (increasing the program by approximately 50%). We have also been successful in the community outreach arena by implementing educational programs in area schools as well as invitations to educate different groups (mental health, nursing professionals, rotary clubs). Through expanded outreach and training, we have increased our active volunteer community from 40 to over 160 in the last two years.
Needs
We are not unique in our continual need for donations and fundraisers to keep our program running. In late 2018, we invested in a new donor management platform to better communicate and serve our fundraising efforts. This has allowed us to better communicate and engage with our supporters. In 2019, we launched a monthly newsletter to keep our subscribers up-to-date on how we are investing their time and money to advance our mission of changing lives through the unconditional love and service of a dog. We are continually recruiting volunteers for the Weekend Puppy Furlough program, particularly with the new expansion into the TN Prison for Women and the eight new dogs that will be training there. The commitment is Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon, once or twice a month. Volunteers make sure that the puppies/dogs are exposed to as much as possible. This includes taking the dogs everywhere with them over the weekend to get them accustomed to stores, restaurants, movie theaters, coffee shops, etc. Volunteers also make sure the dogs are well mannered and follow the commands that they are taught during the week. When a litter of puppies are born, we need volunteer Puppy Raiser as well. The puppy raisers take a single puppy when they are around 8 weeks old until 16 weeks old
CEO Statement
Retrieving Independence started as a grassroots effort fueled by the love of our volunteers. In the last eight years, we have seen inmates regain their dignity through the training and placement of a service dog to help another person. Our ultimate mission is to see how lives are impacted and changed through the independence a service dog provides to a person living with a disability. Love, dignity, change - that is what drives this organization.
Board Chair Statement
On behalf of Retrieving Independence, we would like to thank the Community Foundation for all you have done for us.
Andy Charron, Chair
Service Categories |
|
| Primary Category: | Human Services - Centers to Support the Independence of Specific Populations |
| Secondary Category: | Animal Related - Animal Training |
| Tertiary Category: | Mental Health & Crisis Intervention - Counseling |
Areas Served
We serve clients living in communities throughout Tennessee with a primary focus on locations within 200 miles of Nashville.
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Davidson |
