The Healing Species

Please consider joining me in raising money for Healing Species Inc., a non-profit with a 4/4 rating. The Healing Species Inc. is a character education program that blends teaching social and emotional learning concepts with humane education to include the assistance of RESCUED DOGS in the classroom. The results speak for themselves with improved behavioral and academic outcomes including a 62% decrease in reports of aggression, 55% decrease in out-of-school suspensions, and an overall increase in empathy-based decision-making skills.

Hi, my name is Patrick and on January 16 of this year, I lost my best friend Wiz. He was a 12.5-year-old chocolate lab mix my parents rescued for me when I was a teenager. It was about the time Wiz Khalifa's 2nd mixtape dropped so I picked a fitting name. I could not imagine the impact he would have on my life from there on.

At the time I had struggled in silence mightly with suicidal ideations, substance abuse, anger, and aggression. Only after Wiz came into my life did I learn the power of loving someone else. Wiz could not have known but his healing power shaped me into the man I would become.

A dog brings love and compassion but also responsibility and sense of purpose into the lives of their owners. These are things every adolescent struggles to learn. My story is not unique as every child has their own subjective experience and period of suffering, some are not so lucky to have a best friend like Wiz.

I firmly believe that my best friend Wiz helped shape the exact outcomes the Healing Species Inc. teaches in me. We did grow up together. When he came into my life I had just been expelled from my high school at 16. With his help, that summer I turned my life around. It was imperative that he then be a part of my college experience years later (see below). I am now entering my final year of a Ph.D. program and I cannot imagine what would have been if not for the lessons he provided me in my darkest hour. As fate would have it, I am studying in Pittsburgh, the steel city, home of Wiz Khalifa - my best friend's namesake.