Jami's PTSD Service Dog
Donation protected
Trigger Warning for discussion of mental illness and mention of suicide.
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It’s difficult and humbling to condense 38 years of one’s life into a short post to try to reach out for help.
On July 28th, I said goodbye to my companion of twelve years -- my fifteen-year-old emotional support dog, Ruby, who died of old age.
When Ruby came into my life, I was already suffering severe depression and have now been diagnosed with PTSD… and maybe she knew and that is why she chose me. The truth is, she saved me from my own darkness.
Before mental illness due to trauma and abuse became a part of my everyday living, I was the “good girl” with the perfect grades who played sports and performed in the school plays and played in the band and did everything right... and I kept up the act so well that I graduated valedictorian. I was given a citizenship award for bravery by the local police department for attempting to save the life of a local boy who had committed suicide. But, I already had the first signs of PTSD.
I was an educator for 17 years in high schools and colleges, and at one point I found fulfillment for nearly six years in the online teaching environment, cultivating student relationships that way. We met in an online classroom live time and chatted and I called them each week to check up on them. I had certain students who were my “starfish” who I called extra times each week to make sure they were “ok.”
As I deteriorated, my dog never left my side. In the last few years when I didn’t leave my office -- a room the size of a small bathroom -- she curled up with me, aged with me, and refused to give up on me. This last year, as I was moved out of the room, she was emergency registered as an emotional support dog while I was put on the waiting list for a trained psychiatric service dog. Ruby made it possible for me to do everyday things without fear and was allowed to accompany me on my mental health appointments. Because of her, I could manage to leave my apartment to go to the small market store to buy milk. Because of her, I didn’t miss my daughter’s 8th grade graduation, even though it was really terrifying for me to be at that event.
The facility I am getting my dog from, Kansas Cares, Inc. (Here is there website if you are interested: http://www.caresks.com/ ) is able to provide the dogs to individuals with disabilities for $3,500. It is a huge savings over what the dog is actually worth (add up training, vet bills and raising the dog to age, etc. and the cost is somewhere around 30K) but when you consider my financial means and inability to currently work, it is not a small amount and it feels impossible. But without a service dog, my world shrinks. A service dog is my hope for the future, my hope for being able to care for myself, and my daughter, and my hope for being able to work again – something I desperately want to be able to do.
And so, I’m willing to ask for help and donations. I am expected to recieve my dog sometime after April 2017, and will need the donations by that time. If you have it to offer, even the smallest of donations will be graciously accepted with all the gratitude you can imagine. You won’t just be helping me get a dog. You’ll be helping me create a functional future for myself and my family.
Sincerely,
Jami
================
It’s difficult and humbling to condense 38 years of one’s life into a short post to try to reach out for help.
On July 28th, I said goodbye to my companion of twelve years -- my fifteen-year-old emotional support dog, Ruby, who died of old age.
When Ruby came into my life, I was already suffering severe depression and have now been diagnosed with PTSD… and maybe she knew and that is why she chose me. The truth is, she saved me from my own darkness.
Before mental illness due to trauma and abuse became a part of my everyday living, I was the “good girl” with the perfect grades who played sports and performed in the school plays and played in the band and did everything right... and I kept up the act so well that I graduated valedictorian. I was given a citizenship award for bravery by the local police department for attempting to save the life of a local boy who had committed suicide. But, I already had the first signs of PTSD.
I was an educator for 17 years in high schools and colleges, and at one point I found fulfillment for nearly six years in the online teaching environment, cultivating student relationships that way. We met in an online classroom live time and chatted and I called them each week to check up on them. I had certain students who were my “starfish” who I called extra times each week to make sure they were “ok.”
As I deteriorated, my dog never left my side. In the last few years when I didn’t leave my office -- a room the size of a small bathroom -- she curled up with me, aged with me, and refused to give up on me. This last year, as I was moved out of the room, she was emergency registered as an emotional support dog while I was put on the waiting list for a trained psychiatric service dog. Ruby made it possible for me to do everyday things without fear and was allowed to accompany me on my mental health appointments. Because of her, I could manage to leave my apartment to go to the small market store to buy milk. Because of her, I didn’t miss my daughter’s 8th grade graduation, even though it was really terrifying for me to be at that event.
The facility I am getting my dog from, Kansas Cares, Inc. (Here is there website if you are interested: http://www.caresks.com/ ) is able to provide the dogs to individuals with disabilities for $3,500. It is a huge savings over what the dog is actually worth (add up training, vet bills and raising the dog to age, etc. and the cost is somewhere around 30K) but when you consider my financial means and inability to currently work, it is not a small amount and it feels impossible. But without a service dog, my world shrinks. A service dog is my hope for the future, my hope for being able to care for myself, and my daughter, and my hope for being able to work again – something I desperately want to be able to do.
And so, I’m willing to ask for help and donations. I am expected to recieve my dog sometime after April 2017, and will need the donations by that time. If you have it to offer, even the smallest of donations will be graciously accepted with all the gratitude you can imagine. You won’t just be helping me get a dog. You’ll be helping me create a functional future for myself and my family.
Sincerely,
Jami
Organizer
Jami Jenkins Sanders
Organizer
Parsons, KS
