Centra Looks to Rebuild Pet Therapy Program

Joyce Bailey wandered into the world of pet therapy quite by accident close to 20 years ago, when she took her young Bichon Frise, Amie, to a trainer.

“The trainer said, ‘You know, she would make a good therapy dog’ and told me the tester was coming into town in the next couple of weeks,” Joyce recalls. “Well, she passed with flying colors!”

Before long, Amie was a familiar face (or should we say, snout) in hospital rooms, nursing homes, and classrooms in the Lynchburg area. Bailey later added another Bichon Frise, Cece, to the family about seven years later, who quickly followed in the footsteps of her big sister.

Bailey rotated her therapy visits between the two dogs until Amy passed away four years ago. Now, Cece remains as one of the “old school” therapy dogs you’ll find roaming the halls of Centra Health’s two hospitals.

“It just pleases me so much to bring Cece in and see somebody smile and have a nurse say, ‘That’s the first time we’ve seen a smile from that patient.’ That warms my heart,” Bailey said.

According to Therapy Dogs International, therapy dogs are simply defined as dogs with outstanding temperaments. They tolerate other animals well, love children, and enjoy meeting new people.

Therapy dogs can often be confused with service dogs or emotional support animals, but therapy dogs do not provide a specific service for people with special emotional or physical needs. As further explained by the American Kennel Club, the purpose of therapy dogs is to lend comfort and affection to people in a facility or setting such as a hospital.

“There are sensory benefits. When you touch a dog, it’s warm and soft. Also, I think there is something about a dog’s eyes. When they look you in the face with those eyes and they are so accepting,” said Bailey.

While you may be thinking “my sweet pooch could be a therapy dog,” many organizations, such as Centra, require that therapy dogs be certified by a reputable organization such as Therapy Dogs International, which is who Bailey used to gain her dogs’ certifications.

“It’s not so much about being a trick dog but they have to walk on a leash without pulling, they have to sit when you tell them to sit, and stay when you tell them to stay,” she explained. “What I thought would be the hardest for my dogs was to leave them with someone they don’t know then leave the room for three minutes and not have them panic.”

Sylvia Beamer, director of volunteer services at Centra, explained that proof of certification is just the first step in the vetting process for their therapy dog program, which was officially formed in 2015. Dogs also have to go through Canine Good Citizen training from the American Kennel Club.

“We interview the handler as well as the pet to make sure both are a good fit for the organization and patient population. We onboard them just like any other volunteer and have an orientation. Then we will shadow the pet and make sure the pet is doing well and truly fits the therapy mode that we need,” Beamer explained. “After they are shadowed by another experienced handler, they are able to go out on their own.”

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much paperwork to sift through or shadowing to oversee recently. According to Beamer, there are only two or three therapy dogs on Centra’s list right now. Ideally, they would have 20 to work with in both hospitals.

“During COVID we had pets that aged out of the program or handlers who were in bad health,” she said, adding that the pandemic likely affected certification testing schedules. “Now we are truly looking for more therapy animals and are trying to build our program back up.”

It’s worth the effort because the benefits for patients are clear. Beamer notes that in a hospital setting, oftentimes patients have a furry friend at home that they miss.

“Or it could be someone who doesn’t have any visitors because their family lives elsewhere. Or simply just someone that the nurses have identified is going through some depression. The nurses are great about making sure the therapy dogs are offered to the right rooms,” she said.

In one case, Bailey and Cece weren’t exactly welcome—at least not at first.

“I stopped by an open door and this patient said, ‘oh no, don’t bring that dog in here.’ I stood at the door and said that’s fine, I hope you feel better. I walked on and pretty soon the patient yelled out to me…. ‘you can come in with the dog.’ So I came in,” Bailey recalls. “A little bit later she said to me, ‘I think I would like to pet that dog.’ She petted her. Then after I left, she got out of her chair, walked into the hallway and called after me… ‘tell me what kind of dog that is, I think I might want to get one of those!’”

Therapy dogs have a knack for turning skeptical individuals into “dog people.” Just ask Beamer.

“To be honest I have always had a fear of dogs, until we had pet therapy. I had a couple of bad circumstances in the past,” she explained. “Not only have I witnessed what pet therapy does to calm a patient, they also have such a calming effect on me.”

She says the visits from dogs like Cece are also great for hospital staff, who work long hours in a high stress environment. They also encourage handlers to take the therapy dogs through waiting rooms.

“For a family who is waiting for news, that’s a stressful time. There is no simple surgery. When those pets go through the waiting room, that just brings the family some relief,” said Beamer.

If you are considering seeing if your pooch has what it takes to be a therapy dog, here are a couple requirements for certification, as listed on the website for the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, another well-known and reputable therapy dog organization:
∙ Dogs must be at least one year old.
∙ All breeds are accepted.
∙ Dogs must be current on all vaccines required by local laws, have a negative fecal test every 12 months and be clean and well-groomed for each visit.

The testing process depends on which therapy dog organization you are working with. Each organization has its own set of standards and checklists. It’s recommended that you work with a program that is recognized by the American Kennel Club (see sidebar).

And if your dog does pass the certification test, just a warning—you may end up on the receiving end of the therapy, too.

“There were days when I would pull into the hospital parking lot and think… I don’t know if I have the energy to do this. But when I left I felt 100 times better than when I went in,” said Bailey. “The hospital is a great leveler. You walk into a room and you don’t know whether you are talking to a CEO of a company or someone who lives under a bridge. Everybody is the same. I just felt exhilarated after talking to everybody and seeing my dog make everyone so happy.”

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Looking for a Therapy Dog Program?
The American Kennel Club has a full list of organizations they recognize at this link: www.akc.org/sports/title-recognition-program/therapy-dog-program/therapy-dog-organizations/

Lynchburg’s Longest Weekly Consecutive Event Shows Support for Veterans, Active Military and Their Families

Vietnam War veteran Steve Bozeman didn’t realize what he had gotten himself into on Nov. 30, 2001 as he organized a peaceful gathering in downtown Lynchburg. Little did he know, that event would have massive influence on the greater Lynchburg veteran community and surrounding areas in the years to come.

Following the tragic events of 9/11, President George W. Bush deployed troops to Afghanistan. The world watched as the United States plunged into conflict with radical terrorist groups the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile in Lynchburg, a protest opposing the war occurred on the steps of Monument Terrace in downtown Lynchburg, an iconic city location. In response to this protest, 80 veterans and patriots, led by Bozeman and several others, gathered on the other side of the street to peacefully counter the demonstration and show support for the war efforts in Afghanistan. At that point, there were no American casualties in what would become a near two-decade feud.

Following the counter-protest, World War II veteran James Hazelwood asked Bozeman, “Is everyone coming back next Friday to have a second rally?”

“Well, I didn’t plan on it myself,” Bozeman replied. It just so happened that the following week, Dec. 7, was the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the infamous Japanese air strike in 1941 that claimed nearly 2,400 American lives. Upon this realization, Bozeman agreed: “Hell, yeah I’ll come back!”

Several others gathered at Monument Terrace on Dec. 7, 2001, to commemorate the lives lost at Pearl Harbor and to again show support for American troops in Afghanistan.

“Then we came back the third week, and people just showed up, and the momentum built up from there,” Bozeman said.

Since that first Nov. 30 gathering, the weekly Friday meeting known as the “Troops Rally” has taken place every consecutive Friday, totaling more than 1,040 weeks. Veterans, families of veterans, and members of the city and surrounding areas congregate to remember the sacrifices and celebrate American heroes.

“You can’t walk away from the Troops Rally without having inspiration in patriotism that’s displayed there every Friday,” Bozeman said. “To me, this is very fulfilling. My heart swells with all the things that we have done for two decades now. And it’s only starting.”

The weekly gatherings are as unique as their meeting place: Monument Terrace. This iconic downtown Lynchburg location honors the lives lost throughout America’s darkest conflicts, beginning from the Civil War.

The landmark has 132 steps and is decorated with several markers and monuments. Even since being renovated in 2002 and fully renovated in 2004, the Troops Rally has found ways to remain near the monument every Friday. There is even a designated “veterans’ room” 100 feet away from Monument Terrace that houses pictures, plaques, and posters, as well as other memorabilia.

“There’s always an obstacle,” Bozeman said. “Marines have a saying, ‘improvise, overcome, and adapt,’ so we’ve figured out how to get through all of that.”

Meetings always end with the singing of the National Anthem, followed by announcements and the toll of the bell eight times at one o’clock—signaling “ending the watch.”

The group has campaigned for different local veterans’ efforts, including holding fundraisers for Richmond’s Hunter Holmes McGuire Hospital and supporting the National Center for Healthy Veterans Valor Farm in Altavista.

“The mission statement has always been ‘support our troops’‚” Bozeman said. “We do that, and we also support each other. The word has gotten out there that this is going on every Friday. The media has helped get the word out.”

Between 50-80 participants, mostly Vietnam War veterans, attend the weekly gatherings on average. But thanks to heavy media coverage over the years, hundreds and even upwards of 1,000 have shown up depending on the occasion. On Sept. 10, the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the entire street was blocked off for the event.

The impact of these simple Troops Rallies can be felt throughout the Lynchburg community. Many nonprofits that specialize in veterans’ issues have found roots in the community because of the activism and attention brought about by the Troops Rally. One of these initiatives is the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council, a publicly supported 501c3 that for seven years has helped veterans avoid homelessness.

The Lynchburg Area Veterans Council, which started in the American Legion building on Greenview Drive, has received grants from Pacific Life and the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation. It also organized and executed two veterans’ parades, the first ever in Lynchburg since 1938.

“If we didn’t have the weekly Monument Terrace Troops Rallies going on for 20 years, I don’t think there would be a Lynchburg Area Veterans Council,” said Tom Current, a retired army Colonel in Special Forces, and the president of the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council.

Eighteen months ago, the Lynchburg Area Veterans Council purchased the birthplace and childhood home of Desmond T. Doss, a Lynchburg resident and a Medal of Honor recipient who saved 75 people during World War II. The Garfield Avenue property is being used to house previously homeless veterans. The City of Lynchburg even adopted a proclamation making Oct. 12 Desmond T. Doss Day in Lynchburg.

The National Center for Healthy Veterans at Valor Farm, a nonprofit that helps veterans avoid suicide and reintegrate into society, recognized the tremendous veteran support in Lynchburg and the surrounding area.

“Veterans share this bond, and I’ve tried to figure out what that is, and I think I have the answer,” Current said. “Veterans served different capacities, and we all put the mission ahead of our own desires. We put ourselves second. That takes character. That’s what binds all these different veterans, different ages, different services….”

“There are a lot of good Americans who have character and understand what it means to have a heart of a servant,” he added. “And that’s why I have hope.”

Bozeman, who has attended over 1,000 meetings, said that the purpose of the Troops Rallies has always been and will always be about supporting troops, veterans, and their families. He doesn’t see the weekly gatherings ending anytime soon.

“Everyone feels connected. Everyone is glad about what is going on in Lynchburg,” Bozeman said. “The future is unknown. We still have troops all around the world. So, I don’t see these Troops Rallies going away.”

Liberty alumnus tells story through new book about life in war-torn Congo.

Even after running through the Congolese jungle barefoot, Liberty alumnus Emmanuel Ntibonera says he still spends most of his days not wearing shoes.

“I think part of me is sick of shoes after seeing them piled up in my home for so long,” he laughed. “Every inch has boxes of shoes. It got to be too much. I don’t even want to wear them anymore.”

Ntibonera has spent the last several years collecting more than 70,000 pairs of shoes for the people of Congo, a mission he details in his book Congo Sole, which came out in October. The book tells the story of Ntibonera and his family as they escaped war-torn Congo and came to the United States.

“The biggest takeaway I want people to get from the book is that there is hope,” Ntibonera said.

“Though we may fall, you can get back up. There is nothing you can’t overcome. I look back at everything that I’ve been through, and see? I’m still standing because I have hope in the Lord.”

Humbled Beginnings
Born in Congo as the oldest of nine siblings, Ntibonera said he and his family had a fairly normal life before the war.

The Ntiboneras lived in a seven-bedroom house, which was part of a larger compound his dad owned and rented out. While they lacked American comforts such as running water or taking the bus to school, the Ntiboneras were surrounded by a loving community where everyone looked out for each other.

But that all changed in 1996 when Africa launched into war as Rwanda invaded what is now the modern-day Republic of Congo, which led to violence and genocide across the country.

At the time Ntibonera was eight years old.

“War broke out as me and my family sat down for dinner,” Ntibonera explained during his Liberty University Convocation appearance last November where he shared his testimony. “Chaos, people running. You could hear gunshots in every direction and every corner of the country.”

In that moment, Ntibonera said he and his family prayed for peace as they sat in the darkness. Over the radio, they learned that rebel forces had taken over their city.

As a large family, the Ntiboneras began to make a plan to leave the city alongside their extended family knowing that there was danger ahead as they trekked throughout the jungle. Ntibonera said his family kept saying, “Keep moving forward.”

“As my bare feet carried me, one step at a time, my eyes and ears absorbed horrors I’ll never forget,” Ntibonera describes in his book. “Limp bodies, painted with dry blood, were laid out on the side of the road. Women’s screams, muffled by rows of vacant houses, turned my stomach, even though I was too young to fully understand what was happening.”

Suddenly, his family members were refugees in their own country, but Ntibonera said his father vowed that they would not die in Congo. Eventually, the family fled to Kenya. There they filled a tiny apartment and waited for a door to open so they could come to the U.S. In 2009, it did, and the family found themselves settling in Greensboro, N.C.

“We suddenly had to adapt to a new place and culture,” Ntibonera explained. “The Lutheran Church helped us get to America and they were able to set us up with a social worker for the first six months of our time in Greensboro, but then we were on our own.”

As Ntibonera became more settled in America, he decided he wanted to pursue an education and found himself applying to Liberty University—only an hour and a half up the road from their new home.
“It was hard being away from my family,” Ntibonera said. “We had this bond. We had been through so much together and we had been together my whole life.”

But Ntibonera said God was preparing a place for him at Liberty, and he didn’t know it at the time, but it involved 20,000 pairs of shoes.

Finding sole in tragedy
Ntibonera said he soaked up life as a student at Liberty, where he heard from speakers from all over the world during their twice weekly Convocation.

But the person who stood out from the stage the most was Senior Vice President for Spiritual Development David Nasser. Like Ntibonera, Nasser himself was a refugee after fleeing Iran as a child.

“Here was a man who was a refugee who was speaking to thousands of people,” Ntibonera said. “It made me feel like he could do anything.”

As Ntibonera sat in Convocation each week, he also heard about humanitarian trips Liberty students would take to serve people all over the world.

“I remember they were talking about students going to Rwanda and I thought, ‘Why can’t they go to Congo too? It’s right there’,” he said. “I told my siblings that someday, someone was going to talk about the Congo from that stage.”

At the same time, Ntibonera said God was stirring something in his heart that it was time to remember where he came from and give back to his people who were still hurting halfway across the world. As he went through his closet, it came to him: shoes.

“I remember thinking, ‘Why do I have so many pairs of shoes?’,” he said. “At one time, I didn’t have any and I was praying out to God for a pair.”

Ntibonera said that many children in his country did not have shoes growing up, which put them at risk for disease, sometimes even fatal ones. Sending shoes to Congo could potentially save lives, he thought.

Ntibonera began collecting shoes on his own, filling any space he could with shoes. But soon he was overwhelmed and realized that if he was going to accomplish his goal, he needed help. He decided
to turn to Nasser to see if there was anything Liberty could do.

He emailed Nasser for a meeting and within a few hours of talking, Nasser set a plan in motion: they would host a campus-wide shoe drive with the help of NBA player Steph Curry and his wife, Ayesha, during Convocation.

“God ordained that meeting,” Ntibonera said.

Liberty’s Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge said after their initial meeting with Emmanuel, it wasn’t his story that stuck out.

“A lot of young people, especially students, have remarkable stories,” he said. “But Emmanuel’s story was tied in with a dream and a personal plan of action, and not only that, it was a plan he was pursuing regardless of whether anyone else got on board with it or not. That’s always going to stand out. When someone says, ‘Look, here’s what I feel called to do, and here’s the steps I’ve taken to make it a reality. Would you like to join?’ That’s Emmanuel. He’s not out looking for permission to do something. He’s out extending invitations to join him in something he’s already doing.”

Then in March 2017, Ntibonera’s declaration came true. During the Curry’s March 2017 Convocation visit, Nasser invited Ntibonera to share his story from the Convocation stage.

“I remember before Convocation sitting in the green room with Steph wondering how I got here,” Ntibonera said. “Part of me just wanted to sit back and take it all in from the audience and just see what God was doing.”

More than 20,000 shoes were donated by not only the Currys and sponsors such as Nike and Under Armour, but by the Liberty student body.

“I think our students are often the ones leading the way at LU when it comes to service and ministry,” Rutledge said. “We’re always much more interested in joining with what they’re already doing than trying to invent something new. Emmanuel’s mission had a very practical call to action. ‘Do you have a nice pair of tennis shoes lying around that you’d be willing to donate?’ That was it.”

Since then, Ntibonera said that he has raised more than 70,000 shoes for the people in the Congo and has traveled to the country to deliver them more than three times.

“There is still so much work that needs to be done there,” he said, noting that sales from his book, Congo Sole, will go toward building a community center in the country where individuals can seek medical care, counseling, and start businesses.

“My people have been through so much,” he said. “There is so much trauma and hurt. A pair of shoes is a start but can only last so long. I want to be able to support them long-term.”

Ntibonera, who now lives in Nashville, said Lynchburg played a huge part in his story and helping him grow into the person he is now.

“Lynchburg was my temporary home, but in a way, it will always be home,” he said. “Liberty impacted my life in so many ways. It was incredible to see students and people from the community come behind me and say, ‘Yes, we want to help’.”