Charli loves her job. She’s currently hard at work lying on her back getting belly rubs from a few children.
But she’s not slacking off — she's a six-year-old golden retriever.
Charli is a therapy dog at Canine Assisted Therapy in Oakland Park. This past week, the team began a partnership with the Children's Bereavement Center, a nonprofit that provides free peer support groups for children and adults after the death of a loved one.
“I think anyone who loves dogs knows how you feel when you walk into a room and you're greeted by a dog. All your stress level leaves you. You can just be yourself, your authentic self,” says Monica Wesoloski, Canine Assisted Therapy CEO. “You bring a dog into the equation and people feel better. It's the bottom line. It's that simple.”
Their first event, Connect and Remember Together, brought members of those groups and members of the public together with the therapy dogs.
The partnership has its roots in the Community Foundation of Broward’s 40 for 40 grant program. Children’s Bereavement Center was one of the 40 organizations to receive a $10,000 grant that they used to put the event together.
READ MORE: Community Foundation of Broward celebrates 40th anniversary by awarding '40 for 40' grants
The aim was twofold: offer those struggling with grief an entry way into therapy and those already in group sessions a chance to connect.
“We call it grief light, because sometimes it's very hard to say I want to go to a support group. So when you come to an event like this with dogs or other organizations it's a little bit lighter,” says CBC’s CEO Debra Albo Steiger. ”They want to try it out and they're more likely to come to a group.”
Canine Assisted Therapy has 140 dog handlers, all volunteers, whose dogs are certified to provide a variety of therapeutic services. That includes visiting nursing homes, helping children with anxiety in schools and grief counseling.
“Dogs do encourage people to open up. We've seen so many times where people are just upset and they're sitting quietly or by themselves and then the dog comes in and they just open up, they let their emotions out, they talk more,” said Wesoloski.
Albo Steiger says that making grief counseling more approachable is crucial, especially during the holiday season.
“The holidays, while they are happy holidays for some, they are not happy holidays for everybody. People who've experienced a loss, especially in the last year, find the holidays very difficult.”
