Many of you who were around the Greenfield office this time last year may remember seeing Bennie, an ICAN service dog Jill Conaway had the opportunity to furlough for three weeks as a part of his training to become a partner to an individual in need of assistance. We’re thrilled to announce that Bennie will be graduating in June and has been matched with a veteran named John, who spent six years in the Marine Corps as a combat engineer with the responsibility of diffusing road side bombs in Iraq.
Read more about John’s journey and how Bennie will be able to help support him in this blog post published by ICAN.
It has been hugely rewarding to play a small part in this success story. ICAN is an accredited service dog training program, and is unique in that the dogs receive the bulk of their training within local correctional facilities by inmate handlers. This enables the organization to meet two important needs in our communities: (a) providing children and adults living with a disability greater independence by pairing them with a service dog and (b) preparing offenders to return to our communities better equipped to successfully reintegrate with their families and obtain a job. Volunteers with ICAN help by furloughing, which gives the dogs an opportunity to leave the training environment and practice skills in real-life situations.
If you are interested in volunteering, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jill Conaway or explore the ICAN website for more information.
Bennie is featured below:
The dogs get regular play time too!