SEMPER K9 ASSISTANCE DOGS
Service Dogs for Veterans
Mission
Combat veteran founded and operated, Semper K9's mission is to enhance the quality of life for wounded members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families by providing custom-trained service dogs for psychiatric alert and mobility challenges free of charge.
Ruling year
2022
Executive Director
Christopher Baity
Director of Operations
Amanda Baity
Main address
PO Box 451
Quantico, VA 22134 USA
EIN
47-2671624
NTEE code
Military/Veterans' Organizations (W30)
Mental Health Disorders (F70)
Animal Training, Behavior (D61)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Service Dogs for Veterans
Train mental health mobility service dogs to assist disabled US service members with a physical (visible) or mental health challenge (invisible) and their family.
Service Dog Maintenance Training
While Semper K9 provides maintenance training free of charge to assistance dogs that have graduated from our program, ora partner member of the Association of Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans. Semper K9 also provides maintenance training locally for veterans who own their dogs prior to applying to our program.
Community Education
Semper K9 Assistance Dogs Community Education Program is presented at schools, civic organizations, businesses and government agencies. This program focuses on assistance dog and disability awareness and the impact that service dogs have on our wounded veterans. If you are interested in scheduling a representative from Semper K9 to attend your event or meeting please email us at [email protected]. This is no charge to the community, however we accept donations of any size.
Family Integration Program
Semper K9’s Family Integration Program coaches the families of service members to manage the difficulties they may face when bringing a service dog into their home. FIP is a personalized program, tailored specifically to the needs of each family. This program teaches military families how best to navigate their needs, resulting in stronger and healthier relationships.
Where we work
Awards
Washingtonian of the Year 2017
Washingtonian Magazine
American Made Heroes 2018
Evan William
Veteran Leadership 2019
Daughters of the American Revolution
Outstanding Member Leader 2021
Association of Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans
Top Veterans in Business 2019
Washington Business Journal
Emerging Veteran Business 2018
Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
Affiliations & memberships
Association of Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans 2016
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of animal adoptions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Related Program
Service Dogs for Veterans
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups, Family relationships, Social and economic status
Related Program
Community Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Related Program
Service Dogs for Veterans
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2017 many of our maintenance training veterans graduated.This program is when a veteran has a dog that needs to be trained as a service dog or their current service dog needs new task training.
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?
Semper K9 significantly improves the lives of wounded veterans and their families. U.S. Service members who have experienced active combat begin to heal the visible and invisible wounds of war. Service dogs provide critical support that helps veterans regain a sense of connection and accessibility so they can strengthen family bonds and become productive citizens of the community. The dogs are rescued from shelters and then begin their own new life of purpose and service through training in the Semper K9 program.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
By using partnerships in the veteran and military community, we provide outreach to connect with service members who need our assistance.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Semper K9 utilizes rescued dogs, custom trained for each service member's need. We also incorporate the family into parts of training to assist the family as a whole.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since operations began in 2015, Semper K9 has placed 30 service dogs with veterans and their families. With the recent purchase of 33 acres in Catlett on Brent Town Road adjacent to Marine Base Quantico, Semper K9 plans to build an 8,000 square foot facility to train dogs rescued from local shelters as service dogs for wounded veterans. The services provided by Semper K9 are at no cost to the veterans, and the facility will allow service members and their families to have a safe and comfortable environment to train and bond with their new family member.
The facility that is planned will allow growth for up to 48 dog teams to graduate, thus tripling the current outputs. Having a stand-alone location, program operations will also run more proficiently allowing savings in program expenses.
Our founder was awarded Washingtonian of the Year for 2017 by Washingtonian Magazine and selected as Evan Williams American-Made Hero. Both of these, along with being featured on a national scope by Mike Rowe and his Facebook Watch "television" show Returning the Favor has allowed our small nonprofit to be in the spotlight, thus attracting new donors, volunteers and veterans to assist.
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 and remedy poor client service experiences, 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 identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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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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SEMPER K9 ASSISTANCE DOGS
Board of directorsas of 10/09/2023
Amanda Baity
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? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
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:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/21/2021GuideStar 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 disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- 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 have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
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