A Golden Opportunity

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this update finds you well.  Just recently our nine year old son, Blaine, was cleared for the placement of a service dog (Golden Retriever) bred and trained by the North Star Foundation to serve as a therapeutic tool to help meet his social, emotional and educational goals. We will be placed on North Star’s waiting list as soon as our $7,500 fundraising obligation is met, which is only half of the true cost of a North Star placement (the other half of funding is raised by the foundation.) We’re writing to ask for your support and prayers.

Finding the words for this is exceptionally challenging. We are the parents of three remarkable, unique and amazing children. Some reading this know us well - you know the specific challenges we’ve experienced over the last nine years. Some of you are unfamiliar with our day-to-day struggles but you have some sense of what’s going on. Thanks to social media, many who might end up reading this may have never met our family. But here we are fundraising for what is a potentially life-saving solution for our son. Since he was a toddler Blaine has suffered from paralyzing bouts of anxiety punctuated by inexplicable rage and sometimes self-destructive behavior. As he approaches the pre-teen years we, his family, and mental health providers, are increasingly focused on the importance of identifying and implementing long-term solutions to assist Blaine as he begins learning how to make his way through life carrying mental, emotional and behavioral challenges that most of us struggle to identify with.

We’ve left few stones unturned as we’ve search for doctors, therapists, medications and methodologies that might bring relief. The progress has been painstakingly slow and while we’re grateful for all the good, we have yet to find something tangible that we can all point to and say, "this made a significant and lasting impact on Blaine's quality of life and on our family.”

After two years of research, conversations, applications, phone interviews and prayer we have come to the conclusion that a North Star therapy dog could provide Blaine with the opportunity to experience the kind of simple peace that every child of God deserves. Our only regret is not finding North Star and beginning this process sooner. If you’ve seen Blaine play with a dog you’d know one of the reasons why! Asking our family, friends and even people we don’t know at all to help out isn’t easy. It exposes our family's pain and challenges in a new way and we hope that if you have any specific questions about Blaine, his needs, or our intentions that you'll reach out and talk with us.

The cost of a North Star placement reflects the quality of the breeding of North Star dogs, the intensive and specific training and socialization each North Star dog receives, along with the considerable services they provide. The founder and executive director of North Star, Patty Dobbs Gross, is also a child psychologist with an MA in Educational Psychology who believes knowing how to use the therapeutic tool of a North Star dog is key to our successful partnership by way of safety as well as effectiveness.  North Star Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children with special needs through the use of well-bred and trained assistance dogs. They have been incorporated for sixteen years and have created over 275 North Star placements in homes of children who face social, emotional and educational challenges. You can learn more about North Star’s work here.

Please consider making a donation to support the placement of Blaine’s therapy dog. Your donation to the North Star Foundation can be applied directly to his placement and should be received by August 28th, 2017 so that we can shorten the wait time for our pup. Your check or money order can be made out to “North Star Foundation,” and then sent to the attention of Patty Dobbs Gross at 20 Deerfield Lane, Storrs, CT 06268, or, if you prefer, you can make a contribution on North Star’s website at www.northstardogs.com.  Click “Donate” on the right side of the page and indicate that you’re donating for ‘Blaine Lyon’ or email Patty herself at PattyDobbsGross@gmail.com, but either way please know that your donation to North Star is tax deductible (EIN # 06-1589586; Connecticut charities # 0012811.)

If you have any questions or just want to learn more, please contact David or Jessica or, feel free to reach out to North Star’s founder, Patty Dobbs Gross at 860-423-0664.

Thank you in advance for considering coming alongside our family in this way and for your continued prayers, love, support, and clicking that 'share' button :)  

With Gratitude, the Lyon family