It’s no secret that DRI International and the DRI Foundation are dog lovers! And since August is National Dog Month, this is a great time to highlight our continued support for Tri-State Canine Response Team.
The all-volunteer nonprofit was formed in 2015 to help first responders in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania during emergencies and their aftermaths. It has since expanded and now provides certified, trained dog/handler teams for animal-assisted therapy and crisis response nationwide. All services are offered free of charge.
One notable deployment brought Tri-State to Uvalde, TX, in the wake of a tragic school shooting in May, 2022. The group was on-hand with crisis response dogs and counselors to work with families affected by the shooting, including in-home visits with students who were afraid to leave their homes. It returned to the area on the First Remembrance a year later to take part in community-led support events.
Within its immediate service area, Tri-State visits children at schools and libraries, brings therapy dogs to medical students to de-stress during exam time, and connects with patients in assisted living and rehab facilities.
In recent years, the Tri-State has been a fixture of DRI conferences – if you attended our events in New Orleans or Austin, you may have gotten to meet volunteer dogs like Logan (on the crisis response team) and Suki (on the Caring Canine team). Team members also presented on critical incident stress management practices at DRI2024. The Foundation also developed a partnership between the organization and JetBlue as part of our Nonprofit Champions program.
The DRI Foundation is proud to provide support and vital financial assistance to such nonprofit organizations to aid their missions in communities where they are needed. Click here to learn more about how you can help.