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Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project Mission
The Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project combines work with youth impacted by trauma, nature, and animals to build life skills for youth and improve stability for all participants.
Our Unique Approach at Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project
Centering Empowerment Opportunities & Healing Connections
What makes Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project unique is our approach to centering youth ideas and strengths in ongoing program implementation & our approach to providing therapeutic connections for youth by tapping into the natural healing that comes with spending time outdoors and and around animals.
Our services will support youth in overcoming obstacles they're facing, and then continue beyond that to further empower youth and offer specific connections to healing.
We work with youth where they are at through a Trauma Informed lens and utilize best practices of Positive Youth Development.
From the very start in setting the foundation of our program, we aim to listen to the voices and ideas of youth with lived experience, so our program best meets their needs. In planning program activities, such as outings and outdoor projects, we will work in collaboration with youth participants to plan and implement those activities. This empowers youth to actively participate and have their strengths and ideas recognized. It gives youth the opportunity to safely take risks and grow from the process of implementing a project from start to finish, by seeing successes and learning from mistakes. When it comes to planning and implementing program activities, if youth have an idea for a program activity with animals or nature or an outdoor project, as long as ideas fit within safety guidelines and the Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project mission, we aim to say, "Yes, let's figure out how we can make this happen together!"
Why focus on the outdoors & animals for healing connections?
Studies show that time spent in nature reduces stress and anxiety, helps people feel more grounded and centered, and can improve focus and creativity, among other benefits. (Plus, this is a therapeutic approach that can also just be fun for our youth participants.) There is an even greater impact seen when people spend time around natural water spaces, like waterfalls, rivers, and the ocean, so we plan to focus on these types of environments when choosing locations for outings and outdoor projects when possible. Utilizing principles of ecotherapy, our youth participants will benefit from being in the outdoors and learn ways to interact with nature that can build life-long coping skills and impact their worldview.
Animals can have a calming effect on people, reducing stress and anxiety. Time spent around an animal provides a compassionate relationship that is two sided. When people strive to understand what an animal is communicating, we can start to relate and self-reflect. Building a compassionate connection with animals can help youth understand and empathize with themselves better too. Our relationships with animals can increase a person's serotonin, helping them feel happier and regulate moods.
Throughout life, people care for what they love, and these days both our natural environment and animals need our intentional caring efforts. We know that the energy youth put into program activities will have a positive impact on the world.
Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project: Program Description
Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project will support youth in overcoming obstacles and build on their strengths, as well as provide access to meaningful healing connections. This will help youth heal from trauma endured and reach stability in their next steps.
Individualized case management will be provided to address each youth's goals and needs. The opportunities for healing connections we focus on are through interactions with animals and nature. Through these interactions, youth begin to strengthen their toolbox of coping skills that can help support them for a lifetime. The therapeutic magic often happens naturally by spending quality time and playing around.
Youth will have the opportunity to go on adventures in the outdoors, explore, and have fun. We aim to complete annual outdoor projects. The type of project could range from improving a beach boardwalk to planting trees or to developing a stress reduction activity along a local trail. Youth participants have choice in creating the outdoor projects we do and choose their role in it, having access to numerous job skill-building activities and the ability to safely take risks that help youth learn and grow.
There are a number of ways youth may be able to benefit from interacting with animals with Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project. These will include spending time with therapy animals, playing with rescue animals, or assisting with training and socialization for rescue dogs at a safe shelter environment. If a youth would like to get an ESA (Emotional Support Animal), we can help them find a good fit and navigate that process, providing ongoing support after adoption. We will support youth in providing the best care possible as needed with training and resources for youths' currently owned dogs.
We are experienced and trained in working with dogs and supporting the human/canine bond, so while we appreciate all animals, many animal interactions will be focused towards dogs.
Each component of our program (youth, nature, and animals) will see a positive impact. Nature areas will not only benefit from outdoor projects, but also the life-long love for nature that Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project fosters. An example of positive impact towards animals is time spent playing with a rescue dog reduces their stress, improving the chance that dog will find a stable home.
The key to this program is in building and strengthening relationships: with each other, dogs, and nature. These relationships inherently help people heal.
Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project programming is about connecting youth to compassion so they can grow and heal from whatever traumatic experiences life has thrown their way, like a youth working to maintain stable housing after experiencing homelessness. Case management and basic needs services are for sure an important part, but connecting to these intrinsic healing relationships and natural connections that improve well-being cannot be undervalued.
Pawsitive Ripples Effect Project: Steps
Current Action Steps
Steps in Program Implementation
Current Action Steps
- Youth Panel has begun! This allows us to seek youth feedback on the program design & collaborate with youth in developing program qualifications and policies. This is made up of youth with lived experience to help guide us in best meeting the needs and interests of youth.
- We are continuing to build community partnerships
- Fundraising
- Silent Auction coming soon!
Recent Updates
Steps in Program Implementation
Current Action Steps
- We recently adjusted our mission statement to include connections with animals rather than only rescue dogs for a couple reasons:
- It more accurately communicates where we're at now with programming. The previous wording created confusion that we currently have a dog rescue or will be starting one soon.
- As one of our goals is to offer healing connections & coping skills to youth through opportunities to interact with the natural environment and animals, this opens up a wider range of possibilities, All kinds of animals can provide a healing connection, even those with hooves or flippers or fins.
- Our area of expertise with animals continues to be working with dogs & navigating supports for human/dog relationships. One of our long term goals is to start a foster based rescue where young adult participants could build on employment related skills.
Steps in Program Implementation
Steps in Program Implementation
Steps in Program Implementation
- Begin part time services, meeting up to twice a month with youth at Bridgeview Resource Center
- Plan & implement initial outings & outdoor projects with youth participants.
- Build partnerships with established animal therapy programs that youth participants could visit.
- Open an office space for regular youth programming.
- Begin full youth services when funded, connecting youth with nature & animals, providing case management & ongoing support
- Begin P.R.E.P. Rescue services. We are in the research stage. We prioritize safety and stability, so safety policies, training, and supports need to be established prior to moving forward with this.