Leading Houston’s Largest Pet Therapy Organization

Squeals of “the dogs are here!” are frequently heard as we arrive on a visit, not just from children, as you might expect, but from nurses, teachers, doctors, and even CEOs! 

From 1997 through 2022, Faithful Paws Pet Therapy grew under the leadership of our founder, Connie Richards, becoming Houston’s largest pet therapy organization, with an estimated 15,000 visits in 2023. Houston is one of the world’s most diverse cities. This provides us with a unique opportunity to share unconditional love via pet therapy, which like music, is a language that transcends all barriers. In January 2023, Faithful Paws stepped out as its own 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Today, we are thriving as we continue to stay true to our mission of bringing unconditional love to all we meet.  

Being Executive Director as well as a visiting member is both rewarding and humbling. My job is to support all our teams on their visits, ensure the integrity of the organization and, with the help of our board and key members, strategically plan for future growth. Working with volunteers requires a special skill set, but add monitoring pet health compliance, safety, training, and behavior, and it’s quite a challenge. At times it feels like “nailing jello to a tree!” Thankfully, we have a dedicated group of volunteers with servant hearts and the desire to bring quality pet therapy to the people we visit.

People and pets are the heart and soul of our organization, which is why we have designed a comprehensive training program for not only our pets, but also our volunteers as well.  The “team” (handler and pet) must function well together to be successful. We set every team up for success from the moment they begin learning in our training program to when they make their last visit.  

The joy we bring to the people we visit is so easily seen. When we were allowed to return to visits after the COVID pandemic, medical staff frequently got down on their hands and knees hugging the dogs and sobbing; it was the stress relief they so badly needed and deserved. This was impactful for us to witness, and we shed many tears right along with them. One of our hospital facilities is currently conducting research to measure how our visits impact the state of well-being of the people we visit. This new quantifiable research is powerful although, of course, we have a quarter of a century of anecdotal research to support the findings as well. We experience it in the tears of joy from a long-hospitalized patient or the momentary relief of an exhausted family member or the thanks of a nurse overwhelmed by the enormity of her care responsibilities. Children who have difficulty reading can indeed read to a dog, because the dog just enjoys being read to, loves unconditionally, and does not judge a mispronounced word. There are many divine appointments during visits. Members frequently tell me “oh I can’t believe that I was supposed to turn right, but I turned left instead and ran into this person who needed us.”   

I jokingly call my day “As the Paws Turn” because every day brings a set of issues that need a response. It is 99% great news, such as graduating 14 new members or the announcement that three of our members have received the prestigious award of “Volunteer of the Year” at a major hospital in Houston. It’s an invitation to showcase our work at Houston Children’s Museum Sensory Days on live television with our dogs. Sometimes though, it is sad news, such as the illness or death of a member or their therapy pet. We grieve as we honor their work.

Staying connected with more than 200 furry members and their handlers (mostly dogs, but also cats and rabbits) who visit 150 facilities in the greater Houston area keeps me and our volunteer administrative team busy. Having the opportunity to get to personally know each team is important to me as I believe that developing relationships with our members, their pets, and the people they visit is the key to Faithful Paws’ continued success. 

Another challenge is providing scholarship assistance for some of our members. The cost of pet therapy adds up because our members pay for all the expenses of their personal pets: training, food, medicines, veterinary expenses, grooming, transportation to visits, our Faithful Paws logo shirts and pet vests, information cards, etc. We are grateful for donations to help us achieve this and other goals, such as insurance, developing and keeping our website updated, providing a robust member portal, and marketing needs. Donations allow us to not impose those costs on our members who are already so freely giving of their time and the expense of having a therapy pet.

People sometimes wonder what their purpose in life is. I, too, had wondered about this until I became involved with Faithful Paws and then was selected as the Executive Director. My life has uniquely prepared me for this role, beautifully and unexpectedly.

My husband and I have lived all over the world during his 38-year career, starting with Houston, then San Francisco, Kinshasa, London, Darlington, Houston, Saigon, Atyrau, and back to Houston. My role was wife, mother, and “trailing spouse”, not exactly a positive title. We raised our two children in an expatriate environment where they knew if we said “move it” they had better do it because it could cost them their life if they didn’t listen. We have experienced living in different cultures, learning new languages and how you can unintentionally offend someone with just a simple word or hand gesture. While we had the privilege to live and travel all over the world, I had the opportunity to lead a variety of volunteer organizations. In some overseas assignments when there were no grooming salons or veterinarians available, I’ve been the groomer and veterinarian for my dogs. I trained as a veterinarian technician, and these skills serve me well to this day helping my personal dogs and guiding this wonderful organization.

I am grateful for all the experiences that have led to the honor of guiding Faithful Paws into the future. I love helping everyone in our organization to thrive, grow, and meet their predestined appointments. The best is yet to come!