Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs
Serving Those Who Need Us Most
Mission
Mission and Vision Statement: Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization provides highly skilled service or assistance dogs to combat wounded Veterans, first responders, and children with life-changing disabilities. Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs are always placed at no cost to those they serve. Our program integrates our service dog training philosophy and methodology with our commitment to community service. With four highly acclaimed community outreach programs, our dogs are our partners in healing for both our recipients and our community. Our beautiful and talented service dogs are specifically bred to excel in caring for their life partners.
Notes from the nonprofit
Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs is a respected and sustainable organization that creates meaningful impacts for service dog recipients while making lasting contributions in support of our community and those we serve. We provide education and community outreach in support of our mission through canine assisted therapy and ambassador dog programs. Our extraordinary Golden Retrievers are the common denominator in all our work.
Ruling year
2013
Founder / Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Jeannie C. Bates
Main address
3645 Gateway Lane
NAPLES, FL 34109 USA
EIN
27-3385763
NTEE code
Human Service Organizations (P20)
Animal Related Activities N.E.C. (D99)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2021, 2020 and 2019.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Florida has the 3rd largest wounded veteran population in the U.S. and is home to 300,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The price they paid for our freedom has left our wounded vets with traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorders and major limb amputations. The armed forces and its veterans have struggled with the scourge of suicide since the 9/11 terror attacks and the wars that followed in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 20 veterans a day kill themselves, according to the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, putting them at 21% higher risk of suicide compared with civilian adults.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Service Dogs for Combat Wounded Veterans and Disabled Children
Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs raises, trains and gifts highly skilled service dogs to combat wounded veterans challenged by a physical disability or PTSD. Golden PAWS also considers children who have a life-changing physical disability.
Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or take a specific action when needed to assist a person with their disability. Our two year training program ensures our highly skilled and intuitive canines meet the specific mobility assistance and other physical needs of each recipient including picking up dropped items, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving items including medical supplies, carrying items and assisting with balance and stability. Golden PAWS provides our dogs at NO COST to the recipient, while committing to any other expense the recipient may incur in providing the dog a safe and secure home environment. Our goal is to ensure a healthy and productive life for the partnership.
CLEPP - Children's Literacy and Education PAWS Project
CLEPP brings at-risk children and dogs together in our schools and libraries to promote literacy skills while providing character and citizenship educational programs.
Our target audience is children ages 4 – 12 who are in educationally disadvantaged situations. These children, often faced with low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and social skills, shine under the loving guidance of our dogs and highly trained handlers.
GPACT - Golden PAWS Assistance Crisis Team
GPACT consists of highly trained canine teams ready to mobilize on short notice to provide hope, healing and recovery in crisis situations where grief, PTSD and anxiety are widespread. Our teams are deployed to work side by side with skilled therapists and trained professionals.
Where we work
Awards
Voice in Recovery 2014
David Lawrence Center
Corporate Citizenship Award 2015
New Beginnings School
Purple Heart Facility 2020
Chapter 696 Military Order of Purple Heart
Affiliations & memberships
Purple Heart Facility designated by Chapter 696 Military Order of Purple Heart 2020
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of service dogs trained and placed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities, Veterans, Age groups
Related Program
Service Dogs for Combat Wounded Veterans and Disabled Children
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
On average the cost to train and place a Golden PAWS service dog is $40,000, which is 50% below the industry average. We have a 98% successful placement rate which is twice the national average.
Number of Student Contacts in Children's Literacy and Education PAWS Project
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
CLEPP - Children's Literacy and Education PAWS Project
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our success is not just measured by improved student performance, but also by positive feedback received from educators and the increasing number of requests for this program.
The number of volunteer hours in Community Outreach and service dog training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, People with physical disabilities, Age groups
Related Program
Service Dogs for Combat Wounded Veterans and Disabled Children
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
These figures represent the number of hours volunteers have committed to service dog training and our community outreach programs.
Number of Contacts made by Golden PAWS Assistance Crisis Team participants
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children, Chronically ill people, Substance abusers
Related Program
GPACT - Golden PAWS Assistance Crisis Team
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our fully trained and highly experienced GPACT teams provide canine assisted therapy in clinical settings and in emergency/crisis situations.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
As our community grows, so does its needs. Requests for Golden PAWS Assistance programs are increasing beyond our ability to meet these requests.
Golden PAWS has a waiting list of elementary schools requesting our CLEPP program.
The growing need among veterans for highly skilled service dogs, combined with the tremendous support of the community has led to rapid growth.
Our goal is to increase our program capacity to serve these increasing needs.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Golden PAWS has embarked on a capital campaign with the goal of raising funds to construct a permanent home with room to grow. This state–of-the-art training facility will not only allow us to bring hope to more veterans who desperately need service dogs. It will allow us to increase the number of lives we can touch through our community service programs that bring our dogs’ therapeutic healing powers to those in need.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We continue to increase public awareness of our mission through community involvement and cultivating effective community partners. The strong relationships that we’ve built have translated into support for our goal of creating a sustainable future, for our community service programs as well as future partnerships of highly trained service dogs and American Heroes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Golden PAWS continues to grow the breadth and size of our community service programs while training and providing, at no cost, skilled service dogs with exceptional emotional intelligence that enables them to better serve their partners.
Our reputation for exceptional canine-therapy programs in Southwest Florida is growing.
We have partnered with Florida's Southern Gulf Chapter of the American Red Cross to provide emotional support and comfort to disaster clients and/or first responders and disaster responders during natural disasters in Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Golden PAWS Assistance Dogs
Board of directorsas of 01/10/2023
Mr. Kyle Reed
Donna Sisia-Hagan
Kyle Reed
Stacey Moody
Ken Meyer
Jeannie Bates
M. Richard Mellon
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/12/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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