Heeling House, Inc.

Intro:

We are so grateful you are here!  Jess and I  humbly ask for your support to help Jess to get her service dog, Xena.
(Xena is a black labradoodle that is a year and a half old!)

My wife Jessica has dealt with multiple chronic illnesses and disabilities for over 15 years. Over the past few years, we have been told by multiple medical professionals that a service dog would be necessary in helping to keep Jess safe, giving her more assistance with her disabilities, and allowing for more independence in her daily life.

We are a single income family, due to Jessica’s disabilities, and We are raising what we can ourselves, but we need your help friends. We have until April of 2022 to raise all the funds.  A service dog typically costs around $40,000 - $60,000. Yet, due to the kindness and benevolence of the people at the non profit, Heeling House, Jess is getting her service dog from them for $12,000. Praise The Lord!

We have setup this GoFundMe to send the money directly to Heeling House and all donations are thus tax deductible.

When you donate on GoFundMe, you can adjust the “GoFundMe tip” by scrolling to the bottom, selecting “other”, and entering whatever amount you want (including “$0”)

You can also mail a check to Heeling House (20789 Great Falls Plaza #170 Sterling, VA 20165) and write “For Jess and Xena” in the memo line

Story:

We have started training in August and Xena is doing weekend home visits with us, and she spends the rest of her time training with the trainers at Heeling House. 

Xena is so kind and attentive and is perfect for Jess. Once fully trained Xena will be able to help her move around the house when she is too weak to move herself and will be able to give deep pressure therapy when her muscles are spasming or causing intense debilitating pain. She will also be able to alert others to get help if Jess has one of her passing out episodes or is dealing with a medical emergency. These are just some of the many things they will be working on together.

We will post updates as we go through the training and fundraising here, and on Jess’ Social Media Accounts. 

We are so excited that we get to grow with and love on Jess and Xena as this life changing journey continues!

Thank you all for your support and have a blessed day!!

God Bless you all,
Dan Allen (for Jess and Xena)

 

Xena, training to not eat the treat on her paw as a puppy!

Such cute, soulful eyes!

The moment we found out Jess was matched with Xena!!

 

 

 

Xena, paying attention to her trainer and resisting the draw of food.

Xena, working/training out at the salon.

Xena, working/training at the mall!

Xena, working/training at the dentist!

Xena, working/training at Wegman's.

Hi friends,

Thanks for taking the time to click on my page. Some of you may know that I have been considering getting a service dog over the last few years to help with my mobility. I have a physical disability called Cerebral Palsy that causes me to use a wheelchair, have tight muscles, and poor motor skills. Over the last decade, I have developed chronic illnesses that have required a lot of medical attention as well. 

I have always thought a service dog would help me live a more independent life and empower me when life gets hard. I applied for a service dog through a local nonprofit, Heeling House, but I honestly didn't think I'd hear anything back because they mostly work with children. I was wrong! When I met with them, they already had a dog in mind for me! One dog from their previous litter was still looking for his human. I met Nathan last week and immediately fell in love with him. He is an energetic and loving Labradoodle. He's tall, which is perfect for me because I can reach him without trouble, and we will be training as a team to help me with tasks such as opening doors, pressing buttons, picking up dropped items, and providing deep pressure therapy for me. Nate will also be a huge help emotionally because I will be able to bring him to doctors appointments and the hospital. 

Service dogs are expensive to train because they have to be fostered until their training is done and you do multiple tests with your dog and training as a team until graduation. It costs about $40,000 to raise and train a service dog, but due to generous donors, Heeling House makes the service dog user responsible for $12,000. Since Nate is already almost a year, our training is due to start in the beginning of August and end around January, which means I need to raise funds more quickly than anticipated. I truly believe this is God's timing because I also got approved to look for my own apartment, and Nate will help me be more independent there.  I have set this page up so that any money raised will go directly to Heeling House, not to me. 

I really like Heeling House because, unlike  many organizations, they only accept local people and you are involved through the whole process. We start training classes together with the rest of Nate's siblings and their people and then work as a team together in the community and at home. Everyone I've met at Heeling House is amazing and they're really dedicated to making sure you and your dog are bonded and successful. You can read more about their mission and programs at https://heelinghouse.org/ 

I will update along the way. I'm so excited to get to know Nate better and have him as my buddy in life. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Thanks, 
Jackie Meline & Nathan