Retrieving Independence Inc

At Retrieving Independence, we are committed to transforming lives and communities through the powerful bond between humans and service dogs. Our work is guided by a deep sense of empathy, integrity, collaboration, and passion, ensuring that every dog we train and every person we serve experiences greater independence, dignity, and hope.

1. Expand Access to Life-Changing Service Dogs

2. Strengthen and Innovate Our Training Program

3. Foster a Thriving Volunteer and Community Network

4. Continue to Increase Financial Sustainability and Organizational Growth

5. Advance Awareness and Advocacy for Service Dogs

6. Cultivate a Culture of Excellence and Compassion

Retrieving Independence is committed to increasing access to service dogs, enhancing training programs, and fostering meaningful community impact. The Goals and Strategies of our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan focus on expanding service dog training, strengthening volunteer and corporate partnerships, advancing advocacy efforts, and ensuring financial sustainability to meet our mission.
1. Expanding Service Dog Training and Placements
• Enhancing our prison training program by providing advanced training tools, assistive technology, and mentorship for incarcerated trainers.
• Developing an online resource library for service dog recipients, trainers, and volunteers, improving long-term success.
• Growing corporate daycare partnerships to offer well-rounded socialization for service dogs in training.
• Reducing wait times for recipients through expanded puppy-raising and foster programs.
2. Strengthening Volunteer and Community Engagement
• Recruiting and training more puppy raisers and weekend fosters to improve socialization and training consistency.
• Building mentorship programs that pair new volunteers with experienced handlers for guidance and support.
• Expanding community education initiatives to raise awareness about service dog etiquette, laws, and their impact.
3. Advancing Advocacy and Public Awareness
• Hosting events and workshops that highlight the benefits of service dogs, including a film festival and speaker series.
• Partnering with disability advocacy organizations to support policy changes that enhance accessibility and service dog rights.
• Increasing public outreach efforts through media, social campaigns, and educational programs.
4. Ensuring Financial Sustainability and Growth
• Diversifying revenue streams through grants, sponsorships, and donor engagement.
• Developing revenue-generating programs, such as public training courses and branded merchandise.
• Continuing to increase social media reach.
• Strengthening corporate partnerships to secure long-term sponsorships and funding.
• Investing in organizational infrastructure to improve efficiency, staffing, and operations.
By focusing on these strategies, Retrieving Independence will expand access to service dogs, empower incarcerated trainers, and create lasting community impact.

Our presence at a new facility, the Honey Alexander Center, means our programing is expanding and we are launching RI’s Training Academy (RITA). This will not only allow us to offer more training and support to our recipients and volunteers, but it ensures the program can maintain optimal efficiency if there are future events that hinder our access to the prison inmate trainers. The main tenant of the Honey Alexander building, Family and Children Services also offers RI the opportunity to enhance our counseling services for the inmates and our recipients.

In 2020, the impact of a global pandemic and the presence (and even just the potential presence) of COVID-19 hindered our ability to work with the impact trainers. When entry to the prisons was restricted, the organization faced a challenge we had never encountered. While we were able to send training journals back and forth to the inmates, there is no substitute for physical demonstration and the visual feedback our team receives to offer additional coaching and training.

We have increased our training for volunteers outside of the prison program to diversify the program. Investing in technology, as well as working with the TN Department of Corrections, has allowed us to use video capabilities to continue teaching the inmate trainers.