Lerner & Rowe Gives Back granted Gabriel’s Angels $5,000. The organization will use those funds to support its Pet Therapy program.
Gabriel’s Angels is unique in that it is one of the few pet therapy programs in Arizona with a structured curriculum created to respond to the needs of vulnerable children and youth.
How Does Gabriel’s Angels Directly Impact Local Community Members
Gabriel’s Angels Pet Therapy Program is designed to be offered in collaboration with partner agencies to their children. There is no cost to the participating agency to receive therapy visits for their children. Partner agencies commit to the visitation schedule and provide assistance in program evaluation.
Further, the goal of Gabriel’s Angels is to improve the emotional health and well-being of children and help them develop these core behaviors that are precursors to preventing at-risk behaviors:
- Affiliation
- Confidence
- Empathy
- Healthy attachments
- Respect
- Self-regulation
- Tolerance
Gabriel’s Angels’ Pet Therapy visits create a bond of unconditional love between a therapy dog and child that allows for these core behaviors to be learned through regular interaction with the dog.
Once a child learns to be empathetic to and understand that the therapy dog has feelings, this becomes the bridge to enable children to be empathetic to each other. Behaviors, such as empathy, must be learned over time. The continual visits from the therapy dog enable this learning process to occur.
To learn even more about Gabriel’s Angels, visit gabrielsangels.org.
Additional photos with Gabriel’s Angels:
