FUNDING FOR PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOGS

Transcription

1 FUNDING FOR PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOGS Heather-Anne Jaeger PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOGS TO THE RESCUE

2 T A BLE O F CONENT Table of Conent 1 Statement of Need: 2 Goals and Objectives: 4 Program Description 4 Part I: Fundraising for a Psychiatric Service Dog 4 Part II: Outreach Programs to Educate on the Purpose of Psychiatric Service Dogs 6 Part III: Puppy-Starters 7 Timeline: 7 Budget 8 Fundraising Programs: 8 Booster Events: 11 Puppy-Starter Gift Basket: 11 General Funds: 12 Total Budget: 12 Evaluation 13 1

3 S TATEM ENT OF NEED: In this world, many people feel out of place and like they do not belong. They go through the motions of their daily lives, but slowly they tend to give up. Starting from missing an appointment to forgetting to call back mom. They think negatively about themselves, and soon they do not want to leave their bed. This is a scenario that is repeated for about 350 million people in today s world who suffer from depression 1. Defined by the American Psychiatric Association, they state that depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems, and can decrease a person s ability to function at work and at home. 2 Depression is a vague term because like many neurological behaviors, there are multiple forms of depression. There are depressions that are temporary like seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is a depression that is most common during the winter due to the lack of sunlight and vitamin D 3. Then there are depressions that can be catastrophic to someone s life like major depression disorder (MDD), which is an intense feeling of sadness that takes place in one s life for an extended period of time. According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) in million adults had experienced at least one major depressive episode 4, making it the second most common mental disorders 5 in the United States. The other, and the most common, mental illness is anxiety disorder. As given as a fact, Elements Behavioral Health states that 40 million Americans over the age of 18 are affected by anxiety - roughly 18 percent of the nation s population. To break it down they state, of those 40 million people, almost 7 million of them suffer from general anxiety disorder, with 15 million suffering from social anxiety disorder, 14.8 million suffering from major depressive disorder, and 7.7 million affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. 6 Anxiety, like depression, is a general term for various types of disorders, and is a constant state of worry, nervousness, fear, and apprehension. Also like depression, anxiety has a tendency to make daily activities more difficult as it affects how one feels and behaves. 7 From going shopping to a basic activity of talking to a friend, anxiety leads to people excluding themselves from their regular lives. 1 Healthline Depression and Mental Health by the Numbers: Facts, Statistics, and You 2 American Psychiatric Association What is Depression 3 Healthline Seasonal Affective Disorder 4 Anxiety and Depression Association of America Understand the Facts - Depression 5 Healthline Major Depressive Disorder (Clinical Depression) 6 Elements Behavioral Health 8 Facts About Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders 7 Medical News Today Anxiety: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments 2

4 Anxiety and depression tend to mix together, and like it sounds, it is a horrific experience. Constantly feeling unlike one s self, it starts to make a person feel crazy. Unfortunately, anxiety and depression are not the only serious mental disorders. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness website, they claim that about 1 in 25 adults in the United States experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that interferes with one or more life activities 8. These illnesses include schizophrenia, bipolar disorders (hypomanic, manic, depressive, and mixed), and post-traumatic stress disorders (acute, chronic, or with delayed onset). With any of these serious mental illnesses, there is always a caution for suicidal thoughts. These illnesses push individuals to feeling alone, and too tired to keep on fighting. Suicide is not a selfish act for those who have a mental illness as 90% of those who commit suicide had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. For those younger than 44 in the United States, suicide is the second leading cause of death 9. Looking at California, 1 in 6 adults have a mental health need, and approximately 1 in 20 suffers from a serious mental illness 10. Of those who have a mental illness, only about half of the adults get treatment. These treatments include psychotherapy and mental health medications, which do not always work. There are many limitations to these treatments, but they are mostly due to the psychiatrist who deals with the patient. In an article by Allen Frances, an American psychiatrist, he states, When prescribed loosely, meds provide little benefit, risk harmful side effects, distract attention from solving the real-life problems, and reduce people s trust in their own resilience and the help they can receive from family and other social supports. Then to add to that, Frances comments that doctors add new medications to a patient when the ones they are on does not appear to be working, without withdrawing the first set of medication. 11 This is what can cause distrust between a patient and any other treatments a health care can provide to help themselves. Mental illness is a long and lonely road. From having social anxiety in public to having trouble keeping a relationship, those struggling with their mental-self miss out on experiencing the life in front of them. These examples may seem like little ideas, but to those suffering, these experiences are what make life normal. In an article from the Sacramento Bee on June 15, 2017 they stated, Every year in the United States, 100,000 young adults - sons and daughters - experience their first psychotic break. Some get help, but tens of thousands stagger forward in frightened isolation 12. The scariest thing about the mental illnesses in California, is that as the young become adults, the numbers in the statistics grow. Rates of suicide increase, the number of people who do not receive help go up, and a lot of people go through life miserable. 8 National Alliance on Mental Illness Mental Health By The Numbers Health-By-the-Numbers 9 American Foundation for Suicide Preventions Suicide: 2016 Facts and Figures 10 California Health Care Almanac Mental Health Care in California: Painting a Picture ure.pdf 11 Huffpost: Psychiatric Medicines Are Not All Good or All Bad by Allen Frances (2017): 12 The Sacramento Bee It Shouldn t Take a Crisis to Address Mental Illness. There s a Better Way 3

5 To live a life confused, misunderstood, and out of place is not a way to live. Mental illnesses are judged too quickly, and they hinder people from living a life to their full potential. They cause silent lonely wars within individuals, and a human can only take so much before they are ready to end it all. It is scary, but it is the truth. G O A LS A N D O BJ EC T IV E S : Our main goal is to help reduce the stress and time it takes for someone to receive a psychiatric service dog. On average, a psychiatric service dog comes out to $28,000, and can take up to six months to train for an individual s needs. Partnering up with the Little Angels Service Dogs 13 in San Diego, we aim to work with the individuals who are raising money for their dog, and to promote the program in the community. PROGR AM DESCRIP T IO N When your back is up against the wall, it is the four legged that come to the call! Having a friend in life, makes the worst times better. A psychiatric service dog is used by individuals whose mental disability is so severe that it affects their ability to perform everyday tasks. 14 With this project, the organization Psychiatric Service Dogs to the Rescue want to do three things. The first is to host three big fundraisers that will bring in a lot of revenue for those saving to get their dog. Second is to spread awareness of benefits for a psychiatric service dog, and inform the public about the difference between a service dog and an emotional or therapy dog. Lastly, this program wants to help welcome home new dogs to their owners who benefitted from this project by providing them with a little kit. Part I: Fundraising for a Psychiatric Service Dog Little Angels Service Dogs understands that $28,000 is not a standard amount of money that anyone could have, and that is why they have implemented a program that encourages candidates to fundraise for their dog. However, these fundraisers bring in minimal amounts of revenue and only aid candidates in small percentage, which only extends the time before receiving the dog that they need. These events will be focused on raising money for the dogs. The volunteer staff of both the Little Angels Service Dogs, and this program s own will be reaching out to the community to big corporate companies like Pets Mart, Petco, Walmart and Target, as well as the small businesses. This will be a huge priority to the staff members, as these companies will be providing donations that will help set up these events Service Dog Certiciations: 4

6 Fundraiser One: Crab Fest with a Silent Auction With benefit of location, San Diego is known for their ocean fronts and fish. With the help of the local businesses, the plan is to have the food and majority of the auction items to be donated. As for the venue, the plan will be to talk to local businesses to receive a discounted price on the venue. In return of all of these donations given, all those who help will be advertised in all of our events leading up to and during the fundraiser, and will be given a personal letter of appreciation, and two free tickets to the event. With the purpose of raising money, tickets will be sold to match the original price of the venue. If the place cost $3,000 without a discount and the room only allows a hundred people, then tickets would cost $30. It will be up to the volunteers and candidates to sell as many tickets as possible to bring in the most revenue. For the profit that will be made, all proceeds will be divided into the accounts of the candidates fundraising for a dog who have aided the program in any part of this process - advertising, asking companies for donations, setting up the venue, and selling tickets. It is understood that those suffering with high anxiety and depression will not be wanting to do much, but they will have the option of having someone else help in their place, like a parent, sibling, or friend. The purpose of this is to include them, and make sure they work for the money for their dog. Fundraiser Two: Halloween Dog Runway Following the same style as Fundraiser One, this event is to incorporate the community and receive donations for venue, food, and the extra funds that will be needed to make this event spooktacular. The Halloween Dog Runway is to serve as a fashion show for all of the community to bring their dogs in costume and show them off. There will be a first, second, and third place prize given to the best presentation of a costume that will be judged by the staff of the Little Angels Service Dogs. There will also be random prizes given out like funniest costume that will be judged by those attending the event. There will be a photo booth, and a small pumpkin patch on the side to help entice families to come out to the event. The profit from all of this will come out of the tickets, photo booth, pumpkins and food prices. Fundraiser Three: Dancing with the Dogs Dinner This fundraiser is be the last event that this program will host, and it will be big. This is the event that will require all staff to be working. Dancing with the Dogs will be a formal event, held in a hall that is big enough to seat about a hundred and fifty people, while also having a stage or dance floor. As a formal event, the ticket prices will be expensive and will include a dinner and two drink tickets. The layout for this event will match that of a dancing with the stars fundraiser like Dancing with the Turlock Stars 15. This will incorporate San Diego s many dance companies to present a ballroom dance number with the hopes to win some competition trophies. Each company will be given a minimum amount of money that they are to raise, and whoever raises the most will be 15 How to do a Dancing Stars Fundraiser, 5

7 given a unique prize. This type of event is predicted to bring in the most revenue, which is why it is the last one. Part II: Booster Events to Educate About of Psychiatric Service Dogs Throughout the year of this program, there will be a total of nine booster events. Each will have a theme according to month or season like in April there is an Easter egg hunt. The purpose of these events is to not focus too much on fundraising money, but instead are to be used as opportunities to educate the public about mental health and to help promote the upcoming fundraising event. 1. Hello Pups This is to start off this program, and to be used as a starting point for our evaluations as to what people know about mental health. This event will require the Little Angels to bring the puppies they are training and to promote themselves in the public. All businesses that we hope to receive donations from in the next year will be personally invited to this event to introduce them as to what we are going to be doing. 2. Easter Egg Hunt This booster event will be focused a lot on incorporating families into our events, and will help educate parents about the mental health issues that may affect a family s living situation presently or in the future. 3. Relay for Life: Walk with the Dog This event will be for the Little Angels to set up a booth at the Relay for Life near them, and to ask candidates who have gotten their dogs to come and walk for an hour with their dog. This event will be our last time to promote the crab fest to the public, and will require Little Angels to leave a great impression on their community. 4. Fireworks and Dogs At this booster event, the Little Angels will be setting up another booth at their local fireworks show. The focus on this booth will be talking about anxiety, and how it affects others around people. They will bring in a trained dog to show off how they can help a person about to have an anxiety attack. This event will also be the start of the promotion of the Halloween Dog Runway. 5. School and Dogs With the K-12 schools and college classes beginning in August, this booster event will be used to talk about stress anxiety to the public. There will be information given to help reduce stress, and discuss the benefits of having an animal, whether they are a service or therapy animal, to assist them through the hard times. 6. Fall in Love with Dogs As the last booster event before the Halloween Dog Runway, this event will be partnered up with local rescues to be held as an adoption site for dogs in the San Diego area. With each dog that is adopted, the family will be invited to come back the next month for the big fundraising event. 6

8 7. Gobble, Gobble with a Dog This booster event will be the starting event for the big fundraiser, Dancing with the Dogs, and will allow the dance companies to come and meet the candidates and the dogs that they will be dancing for. This event will announce who is dancing, and will get the community excited for the big event coming in February. 8. Santa Paws This event will be used to help families get excited for the Christmas holidays. The booster event will also be used to help educate them about depression during the holidays, and how those with service and therapy dogs benefit from benefit from the companionship. 9. New Ruffolutions (New Resolutions) As our last booster event, this one will be focused a lot on selling the tickets and promoting the event. There will also be a small craft activity that will be used at the fundraising dinner, and it will be dog pawprints with individual resolutions on their mental health. From eating and exercising to deciding to get psychotherapy, these will be anonymous. Part III: Puppy-Starters The Puppy-Starters are gift baskets that will be given to candidates who earned enough money from our fundraising events to get their dogs. This is used for the purpose to encourage them to help this program succeed. TIMELINE: As explained in the program description, Psychiatric Service Dogs to the Rescue will be participating in three big fundraising events and nine small booster events. The timeline of this project will be one year broken down into trimesters. Each trimester will have a fundraiser and three booster events. The schedule will be as followed: Trimester 1: Introduction Period March: Booster Event - Hello Pups April: Booster Event - Easter Egg Hunt May: Booster Event - Relay for Life, Walk with the Dogs June: Fundraising Dinner - Crab fest with silent auction Trimester 2: The Anxiety Period July: Booster Event - Fireworks and Dogs August: Booster Event - School and Dogs September: Booster Event - Fall in Love with Dogs October: Fundraising Event - Halloween Dog Runway Trimester 3: The Final Period November: Booster Event - Gobble, Gobble with a Dog 7

9 December: Booster Event - Santa Paws January: Booster Event - New Ruffolutions (New Resolutions) February: Fundraising Dinner - Dancing with the Dogs Puppy-Starters Distribution Set aside from all other fundraising and booster events, Puppy-Starter kits will be given to new pet owners throughout the year when they have raised enough money through our events. BUDGET Psychiatric Service Dogs to the Rescue plans to use the funds to help host fundraising events and outreach programs for candidates with the Little Angels Service Dogs. Fundraising Programs: Fundraising One - Crab Fest (100 People) Item Costs Anticipated In-Kind Donation Food and Drinks - $ 5, Auctioning Items - $ 5, Venue $ 1, $ 1, Personnel $ 2, Decoration $ Total: $ 4, $ 12, As it was described in the Program Description, this event will rely on the community s donations. The items that are needed to be funded is the discounted price of the venue, which should not cost any more than $1,500. Then the organization will need to hire a waiting staff, bartenders, and a DJ. The total amount of money that will be needed is $4,250.00The projected profit from this event is $10,000, which is shown below. 8

10 Projected Profit: Items Costs Total Ticket Prices $ $ 3, Auctioning Items $ 7,000.00* $ 7,000.00* Total: $ 10,000.00* The final amount will depend on how well the auction will go, as the hopes is for items to be sold twice as much as they are worth. Fundraiser Two - Halloween Dog Runway (300+ People) Item Costs Anticipated In-Kind Donation Food and Drinks - $ 5, Venue $ $ Photo Booth $ Pumpkin Patch $ Decoration $ Trophies - $ Total: $ 1, $ 5, At the second fundraiser the budget will give funds towards a discounted price on the venue, the creation of a photo booth, the purchase of the pumpkins for the pumpkin patch, and any decorations that will be needed for the event. The food and drinks will be donated by local food restaurants, and the trophies will be sponsored by local companies in the community. Projected Profit Items Costs (per person) Total Ticket Prices $ $ 3, Photo booth $ 5.00 $ * Pumpkin Patch $ 5.00 $ 1, * Total: $ 5,000.00* 9

11 The projected profit comes to a roughly $5,000.00, but that is with three hundred people coming. The hopes for this fundraiser is to be open to many families in the community. Fundraiser Three - Dancing with the Dogs (150 People) Item Costs Anticipated In-Kind Donation Food and Drinks $ 2, $ 2, Venue $ 3, $ 3, Personnel $ 1, Decoration $ 1, Trophies - $ Total: $8,050 $ 6, As the final fundraiser to occur, and being a formal one, the budget for this event comes to a total of $8, This will help pay for half of the food and the venue of the program s choosing. The venue will be providing the stage, tables, chairs, and the audio system. The food will be catered from the event, and will be a served meal, not a buffet. Guests will be given two drink tickets, but if they want more they will have to buy extra drink tickets. This event is meant to bring in the most amount of profit as seen below Projected Profit Items Costs (per person) Total Ticket Prices $ $ 15, Extra Drinks $ $ 1,500.00* Dance Companies (10) $ 5, $ 50,000.00* Total: $ 66,500.00* All profits are estimates, and the numbers starred (*) can change due to the success of events, but 10

12 Costs Anticipated vs. Projected Profits $90, $80, $70, $60, $50, $40, $30, $20, $10, $- 1 Costs Anticipated $13, Projected Profit $81, as the graph shows on the left, what is being spent to host these events is 17% of what is projected to come in. By being a trimester event there is plenty of time for the volunteer staff of Psychiatric Service Dogs to the Rescue with the Little Angels and their candidates to receive all donations that are required for each event. Companies that will be asked for donations will be PetSmart, Petco, Costco, Walmart, national food chains, and local food companies. The purpose for this money is to use as minimal as possible for a greater profit. Booster Events: Each booster event will be budgeted $1, to pay for the food and drinks, activity supplies, and the printing of their individual event s flyers that is to be shared in the community. Item Costs Anticipated Food and Drinks $ 1, Activity Supplies $ Printing Flyers $ Total: $ 1, For all nine events the total is $12,690. Puppy-Starter Gift Basket: These gifts will be given to candidates who raise enough money through our programs. With the cost of dogs and the time that is given for this grant, it is this program s goal to help at least five candidates get their dogs. Individually each basket will cost $143.00, which totals out to $

13 Item Cost Anticipated Brush $ Nail Clippers $ Food $ Bed $ Rope Toy $ Freeze-Dried Chicken treats $ Total per Person: $ General Funds: The general funds will be budgeted $3, to help with the office supplies, the multiple forms of printing needed for all three fundraises including flyers, postcards, and banners. It will also have $1, set aside to help cover any extra travel expenses made. Item Costs Anticipated Office Supplies $ Printing for Fundraisers $ 1, Travel $ 1, Total: $ 3, Total Budget: With everything added up, the amount needed for this program is $ This amount of money is the minimum needed to succeed, and in the end with the amount of money that is needed to buy one dog, this program will use it to raise enough money for at least five. $15, $13, Entire Amount Needed = $30, $12, $10, $5, $- $ $3, Fundraisers Booster Events Puppy-Starters General Funds 12

14 EVALUATION The purpose behind this grant is to raise money for those who are needing a dog, and to help educate the community about the reasons to have a psychiatric service dog or a therapy dog. In the project s timeline, it is broken into trimesters to help evaluate how the funds are being used. The goal for the funds is to ultimately spend less than what it is donated and raised, which is feasible. Each trimester ends after the big fundraising event, and that is when all evaluations will be taken. Psychiatric Service Dogs to the Rescue will be collecting formative qualitative and quantitative responses after each trimester. Formative Qualitative: - At the end of the first trimester surveys will be given to help establish a baseline and help determine what needs to be reviewed in the upcoming trimester. - At the end of the second trimester surveys will be given to help determine what was beneficial to the project and what needs to be reviewed for the last trimester. - At the end of the third trimester surveys will be given to guests to help determine what was beneficial to the project. Formative Quantitative: - After each trimester data will be collected on the number of guests who came to the event, and how much was given at the events (booster included) At the end of the last event, the program will be evaluating the entire year to prove how beneficial these types of programs are. All information will be used in upcoming years for other promising grants. Summative Qualitative: - The program will be collecting surveys from the volunteers, asking about their experiences, what they liked or did not like. Summative Quantitative: - Data will be collected to estimate how much was raised completely, how many volunteers participated in the events, and how many volunteers were able to raise enough for their dogs. These evaluations are important for the future of this programs. As this process will be a first for the program, it is essential to figure out what went wrong, and how can it be fixed. The hopes for Psychiatric Service Dogs to the Rescue is to continue for many years so to constantly be helping those in need of a psychiatric service dog. This program will be proved as a benefit to all in the psychiatric service dog communities. 13