Service Dog for Deserving Teen

*Update 6/20*

We wanted to express our sincere gratitude to all who have shared and/or donated to support Cali. Next week, we fly out to WA to meet Elly, the service dog and complete in person training! We are so close to our goal, but could still use some help to bring Elly home. Please continue to share and/or make donations if possible. Thank you!

After many years of desperately searching for answers, my daughter Cali was recently diagnosed with several invisible disabilities, which combined make her daily life feel like she’s climbing Mt. Everest with a 100 lb backpack and no oxygen. Her chronic and constant body aches and pain in her extremities, abdomen, chest, and organs, extreme fatigue, and frequent flu-like symptoms, including fevers, are some of the symptoms of her Raynaud’s and Neuropathy. In addition, Cali suffers from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome or POTS, a form of dysautonomia, which is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system regulates functions we don’t consciously control, such as heart rate, blood pressure, sweating and body temperature and in Cali’s case, her system misfires. This causes Cali to faint often unexpectedly and experience nausea, shakiness and severe fatigue. The heart palpitations, dizziness, pain, and numbness often instigate feelings of anxiety and/or panic attacks.

To help Cali achieve her goals and dreams and to help her function safely in her daily life, she needs your help. Her pediatrician and therapist have recommended that Cali obtain a service dog to be specially trained to help Cali by performing tasks related to her disability. A service dog would help her by recognizing signs of elevated heart rate, intervening to help her get to safety, providing deep pressure therapy for moments of anxiety and or pain, alerting her to oncoming anxiety attacks or medical episodes, interruption alerts for anxiety related symptoms, creating barriers for crowd control, and staying with Cali (her handler) during medical/mental health crises.

Since service dogs receive the highest level of training to support their individual handler’s disabilities, they come at a very high cost, often exceeding $40,000. Please help us to support this amazing, resilient girl by donating whatever you are able towards the training and securing of a service dog for Cali.

Anyone who knows Cali knows she has a heart of gold! She constantly goes above and beyond for her family and friends in order to ensure that they feel loved and supported. A high honor roll, straight-A student, taking nearly all college-level courses in the 10th grade, Cali excels academically. Depending on how she feels, Cali dances close to 20 hours a week. As a TA for the preschool classes at her dance studio, Cali supports and models exceptional character for younger students. As a member of the Ambassador Leadership program at her school, Cali has engaged in numerous exceptional projects, including Young Women in Leadership seminars as well as a mentor program for younger students, SART (Sexual Assult Response Team), TDVA (Teen Dating Violence Awareness), SPA (Suicide Prevention Awareness), and her school’s Unified Program in support of students who have disabilities. Cali aspires to attend college to follow her dreams of becoming a Psychologist/Child Life Specialist and Dance Teacher.

We hope our amazing community will come together to support Cali in such a meaningful and crucial way. A service dog would be life-changing for Cali and bring her the relief and support she so desperately needs. Thank you for being part of our lives.