Recent Press
Read what regional and national media say about Home for Life®.
St. Paul Pioneer Press, July 27, 2009
The dogs get their own ID badges when they visit the VA Medical Center. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall)
St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Mary Divine wrote a touching story about Home for Life's Sit*Stay*Heal program, one of our Pet Peace Corps projects in which our volunteers and therapy dogs visit patients in area hospitals.
In her story, Divine and Pioneer Press photographer Richard Marshall accompanied Home for Life® dogs Amigo (a retired police dog), Audrey Hepburn, Simon, and Harry to the polytrauma unit of the VA Medical Center at Fort Snelling, MN. All four are certified therapy dogs and were escorted on this visit by Home for Life® volunteers Christine Walsh, Sarah DeLong, Andrea Mardock and Michelle Mardock.
The story many examples of the therapeutic and sometimes miraculous effect that the dogs have on the soldiers and veterans staying in the facility. Read the full story on the Pioneer Press website and see more of Marshall's photo.
For more information about the Pet Peace Corps, see Animals Give Back. You can read all about Simon in our February 2, 2009 Animal Update and Audrey in our Spring 2008 Newsletter.
Twin Cities Live, April 16, 2009
Christopher Robin enjoys some patio time with a resident of the Golden Livingcenter in Stillwater, MN.
"For every person who is born in the U.S., 15 dogs and 45 cats are also born. As a result, every year, 4 to 6 million animals are euthanized." That's the introductory line of a story that aired on Twin Cities Live, a Twin Cities culture and lifestyle program broadcast at 3:00 p.m. weekdays on KSTP's Channel 5 Eyewitness News.
Fortunately, the remainder of the story provides a hopeful contrast to its opening statistic. Told by program hosts John Hanson and Elizabeth Ries, and through interviews with Home for Life® Executive Director Lisa Laverdiere and Golden Livingcenter representative Christy Johnson, the story is about Home for Life's central philosophy— the circle of empathy.
The empathy we show to the animals in our care enables them to become willing ambassadors of compassion, passing it to other vulnerable members of society.
The story provides Twin Cities Live viewers with glimpses of the loving care that our animals receive at the sanctuary and then invites them along on a Senior Outreach visit to the Golden Livingcenter in Stillwater, Minnesota. Viewers are treated to the unique bond that forms between our certified therapy dogs and the nursing home residents.
To watch the story, see the link under Home for Life® video in the right column.