Cherry Hill nonprofit providing comfort, assistance to victims, families and first responders in crisis situations
The Tri-State K9 Crisis Response Team was formed in 2015 to address a growing need for dogs to provide emotional support during a crisis situation. The organization is now looking to grow as it enters its second year.
In June, 49 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded in a shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Following the event, a team of dogs and their handlers flew from Philadelphia to Orlando to provide assistance, comfort and support to victims, their families and first responders.
That group was from the Tri-State K9 Crisis Response Team, a nonprofit based in Cherry Hill dedicated to providing emotional support, aid and comfort for victims, their families and first responders during a crisis situation.
Janice Campbell and Andrea Hering co-founded the organization in 2015. Campbell has a background in mental health, while Hering has a background in dog training. Together, they teamed up to address what they believe is a growing need for canine crisis response teams.
“We’ve had so much coming up in schools where there’s school shootings, terroristic events going on,” Campbell said. “We really need to coordinate this and get our therapy dogs out to do this.”
The shooting in Orlando was the first major event Tri-State responded to since it was founded. Six dogs and a number of volunteers went to Orlando to console victims, families and first responders working at the scene. First responders are a group of people Tri-State particularly looks to help in these situations.
“One of our really strong goals is to support the people, but also go out and deploy and provide assistance to the first responders,” Campbell said.
Tri-State is affiliated with the New Jersey Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. Tri-State responds to crises when the New Jersey VOAD asks for its assistance in an event. Campbell said the organization does not send teams unless it receives a request.
Outside of crisis situations, the organization participates in a number of “soft” visits around the Philadelphia region, including trips to local schools, universities, hospitals and other facilities.
Last year, Tri-State began soft visits at Tatem Elementary School in Haddonfield working with kids with school social anxiety, autism and other special needs. Teams are now visiting other schools in Haddonfield, Millville and Voorhees.
In addition, Tri-State has visited universities such as Rutgers and Rowan where the dogs visit medical and law students taking their board exams. The students can enter a de-stress zone and wind down from taking their exams.
Tri-State also visits a local mental unit, homeless shelters, nursing homes and other facilities. These visits are important to allow the dogs and their handlers to interact with each and learn how to work as a team. The visits also help get the word out about Tri-State.
“We set up opportunities for the team to work together in the community and give back to the community year round,” Campbell said.
The organization is always looking for new volunteers. It has 35 dogs who participate as part of its team.
There are a number of steps a dog must go through to join Tri-State. Dogs must first be certified as a therapy dog for at least one year. After a year, the dog can then enroll in screening to join the crisis response team. The organization looks for dogs who have proper temperament, are not aggressive around other dogs and display excellent resiliency in the face of adverse events.
If a dog passes the screening, it then undergoes observation for 20 soft visits. A dog can then be approved following its observations and evaluation.
Campbell and Hering’s experience with dogs in the past helped them build a solid base of volunteers to start the organization last year.
“We have tested and observed many dogs over the years,” Campbell said. “We had a pool of people of dogs that we knew.”
Tri-State’s biggest hurdle today is funding. The cost to screen a single dog is $250. Campbell said the organization has 12 dogs on a waiting list to be screened and hopes additional funding can help pay for their expenses.
In addition, Tri-State is working on partnering with local organizations and businesses to sponsor a dog or commit as a donor when the organization is deployed to a crisis situation.
To help raise funds, the organization is holding its first fundraiser on Oct. 15 at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken. The organization will kick off its fundraiser with a 5K Run and Fun Walk at 9 a.m. Following the run will be an after party called “Crate Escape.” It will include food, music, canine demonstrations, pet and human massages, contests, an animal communicator, basket auction and more.
For more information on the Tri-State K9 Crisis Response Team, visit www.tri-statecanineresponse.org.
