My Nonprofit Reviews

I love Fidos For Freedom, Inc!

I first found out about Fidos around 1994. My dog and I started by being tested to become a therapy team. We visited a nursing home on a regular basis, but the thing my dog loved best was being part of the disAbility Awareness Project (dAp) in the Howard County schools. Fidos was part of that program for 20 years, and we spent most Fridays teaching kids about living with disabilities, and what assistance dogs and therapy dogs did for people.

As much as I loved visiting people and sharing my dog with them as part of the therapy dog program at Fidos, I think my favorite thing about Fidos is the assistance dog program. After I'd been a volunteer for several years, I began to get involved with training the assistance dog puppies. This also gave me an opportunity to get to know the clients who came to Fidos to get matched with an assistance dog.

I loved getting to know each new client, and learn how a dog could improve their lives. I especially loved watching the teams grow. The difference an assistance dog can make in a person's life is incredible. Watching a person become more independent, more outgoing, more interactive with their own world.... There are no words to describe the impact a dog can have.

The volunteers at Fidos put an incredible amount of time and energy into making this magic happen. I spent 20 years as an active volunteer before moving out of state. It's been 5 years, and I still make trips back just to visit!

Until I moved out of the area, I was a volunteer with Fidos for Freedom, Inc. for nearly 20 years. The Hearing Dogs and Service Dogs they train and match with people with disabilities are fantastic and really change lives. The volunteers who take their own personal pets to visit facilities as Therapy Dogs are priceless, and the dogs make such a difference to the people they interact with. I've seen people transform in truly amazing way after being partnered with a Fidos Assistance Dog. People who have gained confidence and strength, both physical and emotional; people who have completed tasks they might never have begun; and the impact the Therapy Dogs have had is immeasurable. All of this with a mostly volunteer work force.