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- EIN 35-2153710
- 317-520-2729
- 1346 N. Delaware St Indianapolis IN 46202 USA
- http://pawsandthink.org/
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- pawsandthinkinc
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Animal-Related, Animals, Children & Youth, Education, Emergency Assistance, Human Services, Literacy, Remedial Reading & Encouragement, Youth Development
Mission: Mission Statement: Improving lives through the power of the human-dog connection. Vision Statement (Every Person, Every Dog): Paws & Think is a non-profit organization focusing on the at-risk community, both human and canine. Our vision is to create a community where “every person who would benefit from a dog has the opportunity, and every dog fulfills its potential.” We do this with two proven methods: one of training and providing therapy animals for both animal assisted activities and animal assisted therapies to youth, seniors and special needs individuals of all ages. The second method is our Youth–Canine Programs that facilitate classes for at-risk youth and teens, helping them to train shelter dogs with positive reinforcement behaviors. The young people learn responsibility, job readiness, anger management, parenting skills, leadership and positive life skills, while at the same time increasing the dog’s chances of adoption because of the basic obedience skills learned. Pride and confidence are found as a result of both aspects of our vision.
Results: School test scores demonstrate huge strides in the students in our R.E.A.D. programs. Over 160 shelter dogs have been trained and found new homes. Over 320 Incarcerated youth offenders are learning positive methods to achieve their goals, along with compassion and empathy. In 2022, we had over 330 volunteers including over 150 therapy teams (handler and their therapy dog) who donated more than 6,500 service hours.
Target demographics: homeless dogs and vulnerable populations in the greater Indianapolis community
Direct beneficiaries per year: Impacted 30,000 lives in Central Indiana including over 160 shelter dogs and 320 young juvenile offenders
Geographic areas served: Indianapolis and contiguous communities
Programs: Pet Therapy for hospitals and eldercare communities, Reading Education Assistance Dogs for in-school programsand Youth-Canine Programs