Shy Wolf Sanctuary Education & Experience Center forms partnerships with area organizations in our Healing Hearts program. Because our animals come to us from abused, abandoned and neglected situations, a magical healing connection is made with humans who have had similar experiences in their lives. Our animals teach us about kindness, forgiveness, gratitude, courage and unconditional love.

 

Healing Hearts experience:

Guests visit our sanctuary and experience an animal encounter with some of our animals. They learn about our animals, how they were rescued and that these animals live the rest of their lives here at the sanctuary. After the visit, they have fun working on art projects from painting wolf houses to making holiday ornaments and other animal inspired items. Finally, lunch is enjoyed next to our cougar Cimarron’s enclosure.

 

During this creative experience, healing happens to help build confidence and self-esteem. Our guests receive a very special necklace with Indy’s wolf hair enclosed in a glass vile. Why Indy? Our Indy girl was blind, but she was always happy and always found her way. We teach that if Indy could find her way, then so can our guests. The wolf now walks with them giving them courage and strength on their path to the future.

 

If your organization would like to become a partner in our Healing Hearts program, please contact: education@shywolfsanctuary.org.

Children’s Network of SWFL is a private, nonprofit lead agency that administers the child welfare system in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades Counties.  Their mission is to work with the community to protect children and preserve families. Children’s Network is responsible for over 2,300 abused and neglected children, and delivers a comprehensive local system of care through subcontracts with more than 50 social service agencies.  The agency also serves approximately 125 at-risk community children each month in our Diversion Program. Since the agency’s founding in 2003, Children’s Network of SWFL has worked so that our communities’ children are safer, have better access to local resources and are able to have a stable, loving, and secure home environment.

The Shelter for Abused Women and Children operates a 60-bed emergency shelter with pet kennel; seven transitional living cottages; outreach services, training and education throughout Collier County, FL, with offices in Naples and Immokalee. Programs are provided at schools, the courthouse, community centers and at partner agency locations. Their mission is to lead and collaborate with the community to Prevent, Protect and Prevail over domestic violence and human trafficking through advocacy, empowerment and social change. The Shelter envisions a community free from domestic violence and human trafficking, where individuals and families can live in safety and peace.

Valerie’s House is a loving place for grieving families where children learn that loss doesn’t have to limit their dreams. It is a special place for children and families in Southwest Florida to connect with one another and learn the tools to heal after they have experienced the death of someone they love.  Their mission is to help children and families work through the loss of a loved one together and go on to live fulfilling lives.  Their vision is that no child will grieve alone.

Youth Haven is Southwest Florida’s emergency residential shelter for boys and girls ages 6-18 who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. Children coming to Youth Haven are severely traumatized and in crisis. Youth Haven is an immediate lifeline of safety, love and compassion for innocent children in crisis and first step in a long journey back to trust, confidence and joy. Youth Haven’s mission is to protect and empower children and strengthen families in Southwest Florida through comprehensive care and community collaboration.

PACE Center for Girls believes in girls. PACE has developed a nationally recognized, research-based non-residential program model that features a balanced emphasis on academics and social services, with a focus on the future for middle and high-school aged girls and young women.

 

The foundation of PACE is a gender-responsive culture which provides a safe environment that celebrates girls. PACE offers services that take into account how girls learn and develop and its supportive staff members respond to and celebrate each girl’s strengths and challenges.

 

The holistic, strength-based, and asset building PACE program model addresses the needs of girls and has garnered recognition nationally as one of the most effective programs in the country for keeping girls from entering the juvenile justice system.

AVOW Kids

Children aged five to 17 who are coping with loss can find compassionate support through the Avow Kids program. Staffed by trained children’s bereavement specialists, Avow Kids offers a variety of interventions to help young ones cope with the complex difficult feelings of life-changing loss.  Services include:

  • Workshops and individual counseling in Collier County Public Schools
  • Group support and individual counseling at Aunt Janet’s House on the Avow campus
  • Camp MendingHeart day and overnight camps that incorporate music and art therapies
  • Teen activities
  • Movie nights and book discussions
  • Guidance for parents on how to support their children

Avow Kids helps children cope with grief from death, divorce, deportation, incarceration, relocation, and other types of loss.

HOME BASE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

The Southwest Florida arm of Home Base was created to empower local Veterans and Warriors to take control of their physical well-being, provide tools to help manage stress and provide a portal for more complex care for those in need of treatment for the Invisible Wounds.

 

Lee County has been the Boston Red Sox team’s Spring Training home since 1993. In 2012, the Red Sox celebrated the opening of JetBlue Park at Fenway South. Given  Home Base’s ties to the Red Sox and the fact that an estimated 8,000 Post-9/11 Veterans reside in the five-county area of Southwest Florida, the region is the perfect home for the program.

 

What began as a health and fitness program for Veterans has transformed into something with even more impact: a community.

At the STARability Foundation, our mission is to transform the lives of individuals with disabilities through social, vocational and educational connections to the community, while strengthening awareness and respect for individual abilities.

 

The Trailblazer Academy, our pioneering day program, provides community-based skill development experiences for adult participants who have vocational aspirations or who seek life-enriching opportunities. Online learners enjoy the Virtual Trailblazer Academy.

 

Through STAR Connections, participants connect and engage with their community through art and creative expression workshops, health and wellness classes, continuing education, sports leagues, social events, virtual opportunities and many other activities.

Established in Collier County, Wounded Warriors of Collier County is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. The mission of Wounded Warriors of Collier County is to assist with the needs of Veterans and their families, with the focus on education, housing, and mental health. The vision of Wounded Warriors of Collier County is to see that “No Veteran is Left Behind” in our county.  Through our work and efforts, the community will rally around our Veterans by providing and coordination resources to meet the unique needs of Veterans.

PATH 2 FREEDOM

Our mission is to create hope and healing for child survivors of human trafficking by providing safe environments and long-term programs for recovery.

The Path2Freedom Organization is passionately committed to serving the needs of child survivors through their individual journeys from Rescue to Restoration. The Path2freedom team and our partners share a focused commitment to attaining our goals by working collaboratively, and without compromising our integrity. We at Path2Freedom are humbled by the service we are called to do for these young survivors and know we cannot do this without God’s guiding hand. We rely confidently upon His loving direction to fulfill our mission.

Pathways to Opportunity is an adult day training program that offers group classes based on participant needs and interests. These classes are taught by trained professionals in conjunction with community members. The classes are held across the community, at the Goodwill Opportunity Center and virtually.

Eligibility

Designed for adults with developmental or intellectual disabilities who want to gain independence and experience new opportunities. Referrals are typically accepted through Florida Medicaid Waiver (iBudget) or personal recommendations.

Funding Options

  • Agency for Person with Disabilities (APD)
  • Florida Medicaid Development Disability Waiver (iBudget)
  • Private Payment
  • Sponsorship (when available)

Alzheimer’s Support Network is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to serving the thousands of families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia in Collier County, Florida and beyond.  They serve over 5,600 families with support groups, educational training, personal counseling, professional referral services, and therapeutic experiences. Funding for the Alzheimer’s Support Network is entirely through individual and corporate donations. One fund raising event, called “Elephant Fest” is held each year. All of the funds raised stay in the community and are used for direct service.

David Larence Centers for Behavioral Health has centered around providing life-saving and life-changing behavioral health care services to all those in need through education, prevention, intervention, and treatment for over 50 years. Their vision is to lead the way in transformational care so every individual can achieve what is possible. Based in Southwest Florida, David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health (DLC) is a not-for-profit, leading provider of compassionate, advanced, and exceptional mental health, substance use, and integrated healthcare solutions, available for children, adolescents and adults. DLC’s innovative treatment includes inpatient, outpatient, residential, and community-based services.

LARC Inc. has dedicated itself to meeting with quality and foresight the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families living in Lee County and northern Collier County. Their mission now, as it was then, is to empower and support people with disabilities and their families to achieve their full potential. LARC, Inc. accomplishes this mission through the provision of a continuum of award winning community based services, using timely, individualized, goal-oriented methods. LARC, Inc. offers vocational training, community residential services, and a vast diversity of other state-of-the-art community inclusion services on a full time, year round basis for local people with developmental disabilities

Project HELP’s goal is always, and will always be re-empowering victims to move forward and recover from what was taken away from them. Project HELP offers coping skills, safety plans, and individual goal planning. Project HELP works with victims so they can recognize, face and solve problems arising from their crime and trauma. We want to be sure all victims know their rights, and never feel alone because HELP is here.

R E S C U E .   R E S T O R E .   E D U C A T E .   P R E V E N T .

 

Wings of Shelter Int’l, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) faith-based organization dedicated to the intervention and prevention of child sex trafficking across our city, country and globe. We offer restoration, rehabilitation and safe harbor housing to minor female survivors of trafficking while fighting against the factors that encourage trafficking to thrive. We hope through education and community awareness to prevent victimization from occurring before it is too late. We believe that Together, We Can Make a Difference in the fight against slavery, injustice and violence – and we hope that you will join us!

The Mission of Lost Lambs is: “To provide for the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of children from addicted families.” The organization exists to provide life changing experiences to children who are at risk due to addictive difficulties in their family of origin. Many children who are enmeshed in addictive environments do quite well despite the stressors they encounter. Children who succeed in meeting and exceeding developmental milestones along the way to adulthood are often identified as “resilient”. Lost Lambs proposes a unique set of interventions to engage and mobilize adaptive systems that provide protection in the form of resilience, in particular improving the quality of parenting or parent-child relationships and programs to enhance factors such as self-efficacy and self-regulation.