Winter 2015 Newsletter - Colorado Comfort Canines

Winter 2015
COLORADO COMFORT CANINES
CCK9s Is Up and Running!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Colorado Comfort
Canines Newsletter. The organization has been steadily moving
ahead and every day we have more pieces in place. We hope to
keep all of our members, contributors and the therapy dog
community up-to-date with our activities through this periodic
newsletter.
We owe a great deal of thanks to all of the folks who have
contributed not only generous donations but also considerable
time and effort. We are a 100% volunteer organization so every
little bit always helps.
Officers
President
Vice President
Secretary
Melissa Uchitelle-Rogers
Diane Heavey
Marti Potter
Treasurer
Ken Rogers
BOARD MEMBERS
Daniel Gale
Shannan Kocherik
Julie McFadden
JP McLaughlin
Cargo Rodeman
Cathy Shryock
Nick showing off his stylish therapy badge.
“A small pet animal is often an
excellent companion for the sick.” —
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
CCK9s Partners With HealthOne For CISM Training
Colorado Comfort Canines is proud to announce that we will be hosting our first
Critical Incident Stress Management training for our current and prospective teams.
The training is a customized curriculum that has been specially designed for CCK9
teams and on-site managers. This training is being offered in conjunction with
HealthOne EMS, a leader in EMS education and will be taught by Patricia Tritt. Ms.
Tritt is the Director of EMS Education at HealthOne and has served as the Team
Coordinator for the Colorado Crisis Support Network since 1988.
Patricia Tritt
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Winter 2015
CCK9s Invited To Meeker Sheepdog Trials
Colorado Comfort Canines had a unique
opportunity to set up an informational
display at the annual Meeker Sheepdog
Trials. The trials are one of the more
prestigious herding events in the country
and they rarely allow any other animals on
the grounds except for the competitors.
Board member, Shannan Kocherik, who has
been involved with the trials both as a
competitor and organizer, was able to make
the arrangements for us – way to go
Shannan!
Our tent was one of the more popular
attractions as there was a non-stop line of
people wanting to meet the teams and learn
more about Colorado Comfort Canines.
If you have an idea for an event that would
be a good fit for us, drop us note with the
details and we will make every effort to
make it work.
Colorado Comfort Canines Shirts Are In!
Our first run of
Colorado Comfort
Canines shirts have
arrived. These durable
yet Colorado style
shirts by Carhartt will
be great for any event
or emergency we
respond to. The CCK9
uniform will also
include Carhartt pants,
t-shirts, jackets and ball
caps.
CCK9 Board Members Marti Potter and Julie McFadden modeling the new shirts
Winter 2015
CCK9s Responds To Yampa Fire at Historic Hotel
In January of this year a fast moving fire
destroyed the Royal Hotel in Yampa, CO. The
“Royal” as it was affectionately known by locals,
was over one hundred years old and served not
only as a hotel but as an apartment complex.
The Red Cross arrived to offer assistance with
housing, food, clothing and medical necessities.
Colorado Comfort K9s was called in by the Red
Cross to offer comfort and emotional support to
the displaced residents.
We were honored to assist the Red Cross and
members of our own community in their time of
need.
Photo courtesy of Steamboat Pilot, January 4, 2015
Vision Statement
The vision of Colorado Comfort Canines
is to bring together certified animalassisted therapy dog teams with
communities during times of extreme
distress.
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Winter 2015
CCK9s Recruitment , 2015
Donec
interdum
CCK9s is currently in the process of
recruiting for new team members. Our
teams must meet the following
qualifications:
1. All teams must be certified
Animal Assisted Therapy teams with a
current certification.
2. All human members of the teams
must have completed the Critical Incident
Stress Management training.
Pellentesque:
3. All teams must be aware that we
will be working in both physically and
emotionally stressful environments.
If you are interested in joining
Colorado Comfort K9s, or if you know of
anyone that is, please contact us at the
following email address:
[email protected]
Future Volunteer Opportunities
Our organization is currently working on
additional volunteer opportunities. Here is a
list of additional contacts we have made:
•
REPS – Reaching Everyone,
Preventing Suicide: Our involvement
would include attending funeral and
memorial services
for community
Consectetuer:
members that have died from
suicide. CCK9 teams would provide
support and comfort to those in
attendance.
•
CASA – Court Appointed Special
Advocates: CCK9s would attend
court cases with juvenile clients,
having the therapy teams provide
comfort and support to the children
while they are testifying.