Paws4vets HEROES
KYRIA HENRY & WYATT
Kyria is the Founder and Executive Director of paws4people foundation. She was raised with her father’s German Shepherds, and successfully convinced her family to “cross-over” to the Golden Retriever breed, receiving her first puppy when she was 10 years old. Since then, Kyria has been enveloped in the world of dog training, dabbling in disciplines such as advanced obedience, agility, rally, behavior modification, and scent work; but her true love and expertise is Assistance Dogs. Kyria founded paws4people foundation in 1999. During middle school, high school and college, Kyria worked with her certified Therapeutic Facility and Educational Facility Dogs in nursing homes, hospitals, and special education classrooms. Kyria graduated from West Virginia University summa cum laude from the Honors College with Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Religious Studies, and Speech Pathology and Audiology, with a specialization in Disability Studies. She then attended Bergin University of Canine Studies, earning a certification in Service Dog Education. While managing multiple Service Dog Training Programs, Kyria completed her Master’s Degree from Liberty University in Human Services- Marriage and Family Counseling, during which she assisted in thedevelopment of cutting-edge utilization of Psychiatric Service Dogs as adjunct therapeutic interventions within Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Therapy techniques. Currently, Kyria is the Program Director and Instructor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington Service Dog Training Program, the first and only comprehensive Service Dog academic certificate program at a state university. Most importantly dog mom to, Assistance Dog Ambassador and Demo Dog, WYATT, and her Searchand Rescue Dog (In-Training) HOBBS.
Terry Henry & CAMPBELL
Terry began training dogs over forty years ago. His early focus was with German Shepherds and advanced obedience training. In the late 1990s he was introduced to Golden Retrievers and quickly fell in love with the breed. Terry served in the Military from 1972 to 1977 and from 1979 to 1987. Since his discharge, Terry has battled the symptoms of Complex/Chronic Post Traumatic Stress (CPTS) and Moral Injury. In 1999, he began training his own Psychiatric Medical Alert Assistance Dog to help mitigate his CPTS symptoms. From 2002 to 2006, Terry and his Assistance Dogs worked in several special needs classrooms, where he developed training protocols and methodologies for Assistance Dog utilization within the special education classroom environment. There, his Dogs worked with hundreds of special needs students, helping them to exceed their Individual Educational Plan requirements utilizing animal-assisted instruction. In 2009, after a decade of training and working with his Psychiatric Medical Alert Assistance Dogs, he turned his attention to helping Veterans with PTS. He developed training protocols and methodologies wherein a Psychiatric Medical Alert Assistance Dog is used as an adjunct medical device that enables each Client to manage his or her PTS symptom set. Terry has supervised the placement of every paws4vets Psychiatric Medical Alert Assistance Dog with a Client since 2008. He has also expanded the utilization of this unique Psychiatric Medical Alert Assistance Dog/adjunct psychological therapeutic intervention application to other psychological diagnoses such as: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI),
Dissociative Amnesia (DA), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and most importantly, PTS resulting from Sexual Trauma (ST). Terry was honored as ION TV’s Everyday Hero in 2015; and was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award in 2016.
Clay Fambro, USMC Veteran & MYER
Clay served in the US Marine Corps. and toured overseas in Iraq shortly after the invasion. After seeing things that can’t be unseen, he struggles to deal with anything that involves lots of people. He looks strong and happy on the outside, but that just means the pressureand fires are building to a breaking point on the inside. With MYER’s support, Clay is able to manage his PTS and be the husband and father he wants to be for his beautiful family.
SGT Jeff Mitchell, USA (ret.) & AUSTIN
Jeff served 2 combat tours in Iraq with the 2/3 ACR in 2003 and 2005. He was medically retired from the Army with severe Complex Post Traumatic Stress. By 2009, he was desperate to find relief and began training with paws4vets. Because of the support of paws4vets and his Assistance Dog, AUSTIN, Jeff is now a Peer Mentor with paws4vets helping other veterans learn how to use their dog to help with their symptoms. He and AUSTIN also speak to groups about the mission of paws4vets and the value of Assistance Dogs to make a difference in the lives of those who have served. AUSTIN is Jeff’s second paws4vets Assistance Dog. His firstdog, TAZIE, is enjoying her retirement and seems happy to let AUSTIN take over as Jeff’s partner. Jeff says that “AUSTIN is amazing, whenever I look at him he always seems to be smiling. He is my light in darkness and is able to guide me to a better frame of mind.
SPC Andrew Doble, USA (ret.) & HARBOR
Andrew served 12 years in the Army and was medically retired. He was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. His unit was rocketed almost every other day for several weeks and as a result he stays on high alert. He is diagnosed with PTS and TBI. Andrew suffers from headaches, sleep disturbances, memory issues and slower thinking. He feels disconnected from society, zones out and doesn’t enjoy going places anymore. HARBOR bumped with Andrew in March 2017! She will help Andrew by anchoring when he is anxious, interrupting negative behaviors and alerting him when people approach him from behind. HARBOR is a sweet black lab and is eager to help Andrew have a better quality of life.
Daniel Abram, USA Veteran & Penn
Daniel is a US Army veteran, who served 8 years, includ-ing a tour during Operation Desert Storm. He suffers with PTS from his time in service, as well as anxiety. He avoids crowded areas, and doesn’t leave his home after dark. He lacks confidence in his daily life, and often feels isolated from his family and young children.
Daniel met PENN in March 2018! PENN will help Daniel by anchoring when he is anxious, alerting to people behind him, as well as retrieving items that are out of his reach. PENN will also make life more tolera-ble for Daniel, allowing him better relationships with his family and friends.
OSC Robert Bernish, USN (ret.) & Rhode
Robert spent a total of 27 years in the US Navy and Navy Reserve, including 6 combat tours. He’s been diag-nosed with PTS, as well as Bipolar Disorder and Major Depression. He often isolates himself from others, and the community as a whole. And because of his insom-nia, he finds it hard to get out of bed, lacks motivation (and energy) to complete everyday tasks, and frequent-ly suffers from nightmares and Apnea-induced breath-ing disruptions when he does sleep. He also experiences auditory hallucinations that frequently haunt him and nourish his anxieties.
In March of 2018, Robert met RHODE! RHODE will give Robert the motivation and purpose he needs to face each day with a positive attitude, and to reconnect with his community. RHODE will also help by alerting to his anxiety, interrupting nightmares, and retrieving items that are out of his reach. We are excited to watch Robert and RHODE grow as a team!