PLATINUM2022

ALPHA BRAVO CANINE

aka 47-3126286   |   Philadelphia, PA   |  www.alphabravocanine.org

Mission

Alpha Bravo Canine's mission is to donate trained service dogs to U.S. military veterans living with combat-related disabilities so that they may enjoy a higher quality of life. Alpha Bravo Canine supports veterans of all generations, particularly those who served during periods of war or active conflict.

Ruling year info

2015

Founder and Director of Training

Jennifer Green

Main address

PO Box 16030

Philadelphia, PA 19114-0914 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

47-3126286

NTEE code info

Human Service Organizations (P20)

Mental Health Disorders (F70)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Despite ongoing efforts to reduce the stigma associated with seeking support services, the accessibility and availability of these services, suicide deaths among veterans continue to increase year-over-year. Veterans experience mental and physical challenges at disproportionately high rates and veterans die by suicide at a rate 50% higher than the non-veteran adult population. While empirical evidence mounts, relevant small-scale studies demonstrate that service dogs can provide reduced PTSD symptoms and can serve as a bridge between the individual and the external environment to enable a more high-functioning, higher quality of life. At Alpha Bravo Canine, we believe that service dogs offer safe, effective physical and emotional support to veterans. Service dogs, as an adjunct therapy, can improve quality of life, daily functioning and independence of veterans. The therapeutic benefits have the potential to also limit the interactions between veterans and the health care system.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Alpha Bravo Canine

Raising, training and donating service dogs to disabled veterans

Population(s) Served
Military personnel

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of service dogs provided to veterans

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Alpha Bravo Canine

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

This metric represents the number of operating service dog teams

Number of service dogs trained and placed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Alpha Bravo Canine

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

This metric represents the number of dogs active and successful in a training program and placed with a foster/supportive family

Number of applicants applying for service dogs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Alpha Bravo Canine

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

This metric represents the number of qualified veterans who meet the requirements for obtaining a service dog

Number of dogs who did not get placed with a veteran

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

This metric represents the number of dogs who have completed our training program, but did not qualify for service with a veteran. This includes dogs who went on to provide other forms of service.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

As a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, Alpha Bravo Canine® raises, trains, and donates service dogs to military veterans suffering from the lasting impacts of service, particularly mental health afflictions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Alpha Bravo Canine ® was the first non-profit in Greater Philadelphia to offer such services and is still the only organization of its kind to donate service dogs to those in need.

As an organization, we remain committed to a thoughtful and individualized approach to each canine-veteran pairing to ensure the most successful outcome. We also strive to provide our dogs at no cost to our veterans and rely on our generous community of supporters to make this possible.

Our goal is to maintain a high success and placement rate and remain a donation-forward organization.

Alpha Bravo Canine® service dogs are trained according to published training standards for public access rights, including, but not limited to the benchmarks developed by Assistance Dogs International. This alignment with established standards is even more critical considering the passage of the PAWS Act in Summer 2021.


Alpha Bravo Canine® is led by a highly skilled and experienced training team.

This team trains psychiatric services dogs in Deep Pressure Therapy (DPT). Service dogs are taught to respond to both verbal commands and to recognize the onset of an episode of PTSD or a panic attack and initiate this therapy. By aligning their body over the person, the dog’s body and weight will help bring the breathing and heart rate down for their person. This approach also helps the person “re-center” and feel safe.

Additionally, Alpha Bravo Canine® dogs are often cross-trained to provide physical support as dictated by the specific needs of the veteran handler. This may include any number of functional tasks ranging from mobility support, retrieval of items (such as a pill bottle or a cane), and nightmare disruption.

To date, Alpha Bravo Canine has successfully placed X service dogs with veterans and X dogs completed the training program but went on to complete other forms of service or therapy work.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    We serve veterans with physical and psychological disabilities

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    SMS text surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person),

  • 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,

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board,

  • How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

    The feedback we receive from those who are involved or interact with our organization has strengthened our relationships and our ability to serve our veterans more closely.

  • 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 get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, 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, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,

Financials

ALPHA BRAVO CANINE
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build 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

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

ALPHA BRAVO CANINE

Board of directors
as of 08/31/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Ms. Jennifer Green


Board co-chair

Alicia Kennedy

Workplace Options

Term: 2018 -

Alicia Kennedy

Stephanie Lappe’

Tracy Ruepp

Melissa Santarelli

Michael Frost

Deb Murray

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/5/2021
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

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
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

 

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/05/2021

GuideStar 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

Data
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • 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 disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • 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.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our 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.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • 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.