Service Dogs Saving Lives – A Dedication to Joseph Johnson is honored to have been the recipient of the Mission Mavericks grant through CWC-FPRA. Our webpage designer, Michelle Greene of Rough and Ready, shared this opportunity with SDSL. The application process is seamless, and we would encourage local nonprofits to apply for consideration. We were most fortunate to be the recipient of CWC-FPRA members Miranda Colavito and Traci Willingham’s expert knowledge and professionalism, both of whom work locally for nonprofit organizations.
The mission of Service Dogs Saving Lives is to provide service dogs to first responders and veterans with prior self-harming tendencies. SDSL provides education at the high school level to encourage positive self-care habits, decrease the stigma surrounding the conversation on mental health and share the life altering difference a service dog can make in the life of an individual living daily with mental health challenges. We also visit a local technical college that trains first responders to make those individuals aware of our mission of support.
The mission of Service Dogs Saving Lives is to provide service dogs to first responders and veterans with prior self-harming tendencies.
SDSL provides education at the high school level to encourage positive self-care habits, decrease the stigma surrounding the conversation on mental health and share the life altering difference a service dog can make in the life of an individual living daily with mental health challenges. We also visit a local technical college that trains first responders to make those individuals aware of our mission of support.
The immense knowledge we received from the Mission Mavericks team ranged from templates for effective pre and post press releases, developing a prospectus, marketing our brand, best practices for newsletter development, preparing messaging for a major fundraiser, and scripting for requesting donations.
The culminating activity was attending the Meet the Media Event hosted by CWC-FPRA in March 2025 and hearing local journalists and media share best practices in the industry.
The experience of receiving this generous grant has allowed Service Dogs Saving Lives to set an ambitious goal of donating 10 service dogs per year to individuals with prior self-harming tendencies, which provides a roadmap for success and validates our life altering impact.
Our tagline is “Be a Lifesaver” and we invite the community to join us in changing lives one service dog at a time. Learn more at SDSLHope.org.