Geauga Humane Society: Gathering Place Camp Compiled by ASPCA and distributed to the field, July 2009. Visit the ASPCA Community Outreach website for animal welfare professionals: www.aspcapro.org.
Geauga Humane Society: Gathering Place Camp Since 2000, Geauga Humane Society has partnered with The Gathering Place to present a week-long, animal-based camp experience for children whose parent or other caring adult is dealing with the disease. The Gathering Place is a nonprofit organization that provides support for individuals and families touched by cancer. Stats Gathering Place Camp is now in its ninth year and has served just under 200 children. How Cool is That? We re impressed with the way Geauga Humane Society then a small, financially-strapped organization with a substandard facility jumped at the chance to partner with The Gathering Place. Together, they present a program that benefits both the animals and the children involved, and helps broaden the organization s base of support in the community. In addition, by incorporating GHS Ambassador dogs and their adopters in the camp curriculum, GHS enhanced the experience for the campers while bringing attention to another fine GHS program that brings the organization and its mission to the community. Adopt or Adapt Developing joint programming with a respected and well-established community organization is an excellent way to increase your visibility and attract new donors without spending a lot of money. It s important, though, to make sure that the program supports your mission. Another free resource for animal welfare professionals from www.aspcapro.org 2 of 7
Who They Are and What They Do In 2000, Geauga Humane Society (GHS) was struggling to care for the county s sick, injured, abused and abandoned cats and dogs while launching a capital campaign to build a desperately needed new facility. Although GHS had been in existence and doing quality work for over 25 years, the organization was living from month to month on modest donations from a relatively small group of loyal supporters. It was barely a blip on the radar of the area s substantial philanthropic community. The GHS leadership was actively seeking ways to expand the donor base and reach out to individuals capable of making the kinds of gifts that would be needed to build and maintain a $2 million shelter and center for humane education. At the same time, The Gathering Place had recently opened its doors and was in the process of developing new programs. Unlike GHS, The Gathering Place had already become well-known and respected in the community as the result of its very strong board of directors. When the GHS leaders were approached by The Gathering Place Director Eileen Saffron about the possibility of an animal-based camp experience for children whose parents or other loved adults had cancer, they were immediately captivated by the idea. They loved the concept of helping children cope with sadness and loss by allowing them to interact with shelter animals. They also recognized the potential of a partnership like this to increase GHS visibility in the community at a time when that was a high priority. But there were obvious challenges. GHS had no grounds or building to house the camp, no funds to support it, and no education staff to run it. Nonetheless, an exploratory meeting was scheduled bringing together The Gathering Place Director of Children s Programming Kathleen McCue and members of her volunteer staff, GHS shelter staff, and Barbara Collins, a Therapy Dogs International trainer who had recently started training GHS adoptees as therapy dogs and GHS Ambassadors. How It Works Using funds from a small grant The Gathering Place had obtained, Collins was hired to spearhead the development of an animal-based curriculum. The goal of the camp was established: to help the children cope with issues that threatened to overwhelm them by drawing on their natural attraction to animals and giving them the chance to interact with peers facing the same issues. The Gathering Place secured the donation of a riding arena at a girls school about 45 minutes from the GHS shelter and agreed to provide trained volunteers to help McCue work with the children. The GHS shelter manager agreed to transport six puppies and six kittens, along with exercise pens and other equipment, to the arena every day, and to teach the children how to work with the animals. Collins mustered six GHS Ambassadors and their dogs to volunteer their time. She also agreed to haul heavy agility equipment to the arena and to be part of the camp staff. The program was launched with the following curriculum: For the first half of the morning, each of the 12 campers, aged six to 12, was assigned a puppy or kitten to socialize and prepare for adoption. GHS staff taught puppy and kitten body language and helped the youngsters teach their charges basic manners. A guest groomer and veterinarian taught basic care. A guide dog, arson dog, and search and rescue dog gave the children a sense of the roles animals can play in society. Guest readers introduced the children and their charges to stories about dogs and cats. After a discussion of what various names convey about personality, the children named their puppies and kittens, decorated bandannas and held a special naming ceremony. Finally, holding puppies and kittens in their laps, the children wrote their hopes and dreams for the animals to be shared with their adopters. Between activities, there was always plenty of time for playing and cuddling with the animals. Another free resource for animal welfare professionals from www.aspcapro.org 3 of 7
After a snack break, it was time for agility training. Two children were teamed with each GHS Ambassador dog and its owner. Under Collins watchful eye, they taught their dogs to go through the tunnel, across the dog walk, over jumps and through the tire. In addition to having a lot of fun, the children learned the value of patience and the importance of reading non-verbal communication as they tried to get their dogs to perform. On the last day, the children and their charges put on a demonstration for parents and friends. They held a talent show demonstrating the behaviors they had taught to the Ambassador dogs, led the dogs through the agility course and proudly showed off their puppies and kittens. Then, in a moving graduation ceremony, the campers returned the puppies and kittens to the GHS staff to go back to the shelter and up for adoption. The bandannas were carefully placed on the crates along with the hopes and dreams writings. There were tears all around, but, as McCue explained, one of the goals of the camp was to help the children learn to say goodbye to a loved one and to deal openly with issues of loss. Back at The Gathering Place, the children were encouraged to talk about their feelings in a safe environment. Two one-week sessions are now offered each summer. Over the years, the curriculum has gone through minor modifications, but the basic structure remains the same. Ingredients and Prep Work Timeline It took about 6 months to plan the first camp. Costs Because all programs offered by The Gathering Place are free, McCue obtained a grant to cover most of the modest start-up costs. Collins loaned the agility equipment and used her personal van to transport it. GHS staffers arranged their schedules so they could be at the camp when needed. A GHS van was used to transport the puppies and kittens. Virtually all the supplies (bandannas, paint, paper, etc.) were donated. Today, the camp is held at Rescue Village, GHS s shelter and center for humane education that opened in 2001. GHS Humane Education Coordinator Mary Carney now directs the program, along with McCue. Staff and volunteers from both the Gathering Place and GHS supervise the children and participate in the programming. The modest costs for GHS are absorbed into the humane education budget. Step by Step 1. Look at the Big Picture. According to GHS leaders, it would have been easy to say no to this opportunity given the lack of space and funding, limited staff, and pressure of launching a capital campaign. Knowing, however, that they would have to reach out boldly into the community to gain the financial support they needed, they took a chance. Based on their experience, they strongly recommend that animal welfare organizations, which often have a rather narrow funding base, grab opportunities to partner with other organizations as long as the programs involved support the mission. 2. Determine the terms of the partnership. Central to the development of Gathering Place Camp was an agreement that: the animal-based curriculum would be developed by GHS but approved by The Gathering Place staff to conform to their goals for the children. Another free resource for animal welfare professionals from www.aspcapro.org 4 of 7
GHS staff and volunteers would confine themselves to teaching animal-related skills, leaving all counseling and discussions about illness and death to The Gathering Place staff and trained volunteers. 3. Develop a curriculum that supports your mission as well as that of your partner organization. Everything the children did with and for the camp animals was consistent with GHS goals. Socializing puppies and kittens before adoption and providing GHS Ambassador Dogs with opportunities to work with children were activities that benefitted the animals and worked to enhance the human/animal bond. The only real concession was holding adoptable puppies and kittens longer than usual to make them available for the camp program. That did require soliciting foster families to care for the animals outside of the shelter so they wouldn t take up valuable cage space. 4. Make sure everyone in your organization understands why you re doing the program. Although everything about Gathering Place Camp was consistent with the GHS mission, it was a new kind of program for an organization that had previously confined itself to caring directly for sick, injured, abused, and abandoned animals. The modest humane education program had consisted only of volunteers taking animals into schools to teach such basics as bite prevention. This program, which involved holding adoptable puppies and kittens, taking them off-site, and taking key staff members out of the building for periods of time, took some explaining. Once the program s value to both organizations was understood, it was fully accepted. 5. Use the program to enhance your organization s reputation in the community. GHS and The Gathering Place reached out to their media contacts with press releases about the program, which received widespread coverage, enhancing the reputations of both organizations. Results The Gathering Place Camp is always overbooked. Parents continually express gratitude to both organizations for providing their children with such a rewarding experience during a difficult time in their lives. In 2001, two young campers lost their father to cancer in the middle of camp week. Their mother decided it would be better for the girls to finish out the week rather than watching as funeral plans were made. According to GHS staff, The animals did their healing thing and the campers and staff surrounded the girls with love. The mother later said having the girls stay in camp was the best decision she could have made for them. Although puppies and kittens need little help getting adopted, potential adopters love reading the hopes and dreams statements, now expanded to book form. The Numbers Gathering Place Camp has now served just under 200 children. According to Carney, it has become a challenge to accommodate all the Ambassadors wanting to participate. Critical Factors This program required a very strong commitment on the part of both organizations. Each had something unique to bring to the table. It was the sharing of resources, skills, and even contacts that made it all work. Another free resource for animal welfare professionals from www.aspcapro.org 5 of 7
Thinking Outside the Box Transporting puppies and kittens 45 minutes each way and transforming a riding arena into a camp took some imagination and a lot of hard work! Having the children teach agility to trained and safety-tested GHS Ambassador Dogs avoided all the issues that can come up when children interact with shelter dogs whose behavior is less predictable. Involving the GHS Ambassador Dogs and their owners in the program cemented their relationship to the organization and provided an incentive for new GHS Ambassador recruits eager to participate in future camps. Another free resource for animal welfare professionals from www.aspcapro.org 6 of 7
Geauga Humane Society 15463 Chillicothe Road Novelty, OH 44072 Executive Director, Hope Brustein 440.338.4819 www.geaugahumane.org info@geaugahumane.org Founded in 1974, Geauga Humane Society cares for approximately 2,100 companion animals each year. In 2001, GHS opened Rescue Village, a state-of-the-art shelter and center for humane education where all the animals, including the abused, sick, injured, those that may need behavior training, and those that simply need the gift of time, are cared for until they find new homes. Animals are never euthanized due to age, special needs, or lack of space. GHS offers a rich program agenda designed to save animal lives and reinforce the human animal bond. Offerings include cruelty investigations, aggressive spay/neuter programs, behavior training, and after school and camp programs for middle school children. Staff 22.8 FTE Operating Budget $1.2 million Business Type 501(c)(3) nonprofit Another free resource for animal welfare professionals from www.aspcapro.org 7 of 7