Hello and welcome to living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

And I'm Grover Silcox on this episode.

A story that will get tails wagging.

We'll take a look at the tender relationship between dog and owner.

As Tales of Valor joins us with more on their mission.

So cute.

Can't wait for that one.

Women's health is front and center at a new facility in Bethlehem.

The doors are open and we are peeking inside the state of the art building, offering women a place to tackle their health issues, all under one roof.

Then we're cooking something delicious with Mama Nico's homemade things.

It's the perfect recipe for any family looking for a meatless meal that the kids will love.

They absolutely will.

But first, our story today to top this episode.

It's a very furry one.

That's right.

Tales of valor pairs and train service dogs for veterans, police officers, and first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

It's a two year process to prepare dog and master for a lifetime of service.

Yeah, a lot of that goes into that journey, but none of it would be possible without the volunteers, right?

Absolutely correct.

Including those volunteers who helped raise and babysit the puppies after school at Tails of Valor Kennels and on weekend.

We consider volunteers as the heartbeat of our organization.

Good boy.

Volunteers fill myriad roles with tales of valor.

The nonprofit organization that trains dogs for and with veterans and first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues resulting from their service.

We have a very active, wonderful group of volunteers with our organizations over the last 12 years.

This year.

Now, of course, our organization has puppies.

So you got lot love puppies.

On this day, volunteers who serve as sitters for tales of values.

Puppies get together for a training session in a home setting outside the kennel.

Hardin's going to do a task called get it, bring it, drop it.

And that eventually evolves into getting a bag off a counter or medication of a bottle so that they can then bring it to their veteran.

A razor takes a puppy when they're eight weeks old and is responsible for them every day.

A razor provides a home for the dog.

After training at Tales of Valor during the day.

And you bring them back and forth to school just like you're dropping them off at kindergarten.

Then when they get to be about four months old, I guess that's when they move into the sitter phase, and then that's when they stay at the kennel full time kind of boarding school, and then they'll go home on the weekends with the sitter.

Like most sitters, Bridget and Patty alternate sitting for 11 month old Connie, a labradoodle in training.

One week, the dog goes to Brigid's and the next week to Patty's home.

Alternating sitters helps prevent the puppy from getting too attached to their temporary caregivers and vice versa.

Brigid, however, has also served as a razor with a special connection to Connie.

I had Connie as a puppy, and that is because, we as a family, when my father passed, he was a Navy veteran, and we raised funds to name Connie after Commander Connell Gallagher.

So, you know, it's an honor that his name kind of lives on, as a legacy.

And actually, all of our dogs are named after veterans, who have passed already.

Each dog graced with a departed veteran's name, trained for up to two years, which includes training with their forever person.

Together, they must pass muster to graduate as a team.

We train our puppies every day in school Monday through Friday, and our volunteers come in and provide that life at home that you can't really get in a school setting.

What they really do is they help us by reinforcing what we teach them in school.

Tales of valor qualifies each raiser and sitter prior to releasing a dog to their care.

In order to be a sitter, we need to do.

The training, and that takes about six eight hours of training before we can take a dog with us.

In addition to housing, a dog sitters take the canine wherever they go, which is something the dog will eventually have to do with its forever person.

I would take them shopping.

You can take them to church.

You can take them to social events.

Chuck and Sue Griffith didn't volunteer as sitters, but Chuck also became a recipient when he was paired with JT, who returned to the organization after his original owner had died.

Now, JT helps Chuck de-stress from years as a nurse in a hospital cardiac intensive care unit.

JT is ten years old.

I've had him for five years.

He is a black lab Great Dane and massive heart and.

Oh boy, honey, let's.

Go.

These volunteers play a pivotal role in the socialization of the puppy, which is so important to their development.

And it's our job to reinforce the training that they had prior in a week, and to socialize the dogs to take them out into the public, whether it's into a gym, a hospital, a restaurant, and, you know, any place that a person would normally go.

This job never stays in our house alone.

No matter where we go, we take them.

Joe Fahy, a veteran whose service dog died, needed something to fill the void.

House.

Now he and his wife, Kathy, volunteer as sitters for Tales of Valor.

Today, they're caring for Artie, a feisty, caramel colored labradoodle.

When we return the dog on a Monday, we actually have a report that we have to fill out of.

Everything that the dog has has gone through the services.

It's walked on the sounds.

It was exposed to the smells.

It was exposed to vehicles, you know, whatever.

Tales of valor provides the sitters and raisers with all the food and supplies they'll need to properly care for the dog.

We have 60 active volunteers, not all of them or sitters or raisers.

We have a lot of event volunteers, committee volunteers.

Each dog in the program has a distinct personality, but every dog is nurtured and trained with love and accountability so that they and their forever person will become a successful team.

We have graduated 73 working teams and this year we placed our first community canine.

The one question these volunteers invariably get asked is how do you ever part with a puppy.

When you see them with their forever person and you see the difference that they're making in their day to day life?

It's just heartwarming.

And you're so proud you're like, you're releasing them out into the world and.

As mentioned in the story, Tails of Valor welcomes volunteers for all kinds of roles, whether it's as raisers or sitters, or for helping at fundraising events, even parking cars.

But all the volunteers I spoke with say they do it because of course they love dogs and they love how these dogs make such an amazing difference in the lives of men and women who serve their their community, their country and now need support themselves.

They're just so cute.

Grover.

And now joining us, we have Andrea, town and administrator at Tales of Valor, along with Whitney Hillenbrand, who is a trainer for the training team.

Ladies, thank you so much for joining us.

And of course, you brought a special guest today.

We've said thanks for having us.

Absolutely.

And this is.

Heart.

To.

Heart and hour.

Taking a little nap right now during the show.

Yes.

It's tough when you're only five months old.

You need a nap.

He is a labradoodle.

He, like all of our dogs, is named for a fallen veteran.

In his case, he is named for Joshua Horton, who unfortunately was killed far too young in Afghanistan.

Wow.

Well, I really, appreciate that concept of of naming the dogs after the fallen soldiers.

How did that come about?

How they started that our founders, Heather Lloyd, and started at the beginning.

This is about respect, honor and service, and we want to respect and honor their service to us and carry that on.

We truly believe that you die twice when you die, and worse, perhaps when no one remembers your name.

No one tells that story that doesn't happen.

He will carry on that story and that commitment.

That's why Josh became joined in the service.

He wanted to help people, service to country, family, to God, to those things.

He's going to carry that on and help someone else lead a better life and.

Now a heart and will, partner with a veteran or first responder, a police officer who needs support.

He does.

We work with those who need help with post-traumatic stress injuries and or traumatic brain injuries.

We can't, unfortunately, fix those things, but we can with the canine assisted therapy working together.

Help them reduce those stressors.

Learn better ways to live.

Live the best quality of life they can.

Now, Whitney.

He is so calm and his demeanor for a five month old puppy is unbelievable.

What about the trainers?

How do you know this puppy is going to match well with the trainer, and then match well with the person who's receiving the dog on the long term?

So really it's a two sided project because we have the journey with the purpose on our wellness side, where they work really closely with these veterans or first responders, to, to help figure out how they're going to heal.

And then there's me on my side and we figure out we do all of our basic commands.

We have what we call the first 26 sit down, stay, place, heal, all those kind of things that start them off with the building blocks to become really good dogs.

And then over time, they start to hang out with each other.

They say, okay, we'll take Harton and our next veteran and they hang out.

They go through some training and.

The Perry process.

Right.

And it's not always love at first sight with the first dog that you see.

So we have a couple usually around the same age that they get choices from.

And you usually see that click the oh, we're friends, I like you.

I think this is going to work out.

Got to it has to be a mutual agreement.

It has to because they're going to talk to each other to be a great service team.

And it is a team between that human, the dog, the dog and the human got to talk to each other.

So it is a bond of love and trust.

And you can usually see as they begin the same way you knew when you met your best friend, your wife, your husband.

You want something?

I want to know about them.

You see it with them.

And then we foster that.

They work together in training and they work together, having time just to hang out and be a dog and a person and be friends.

Right.

They wear the vest when they're in service, right?

When they're working, they wear their vest.

And it's the same as when you put on the suit.

You know, I'm working.

I'm a little different.

I'm going to pay attention to my job.

When you take it off and put on your sweatshirt and your jeans.

Well, now I'm just when he takes off, he's a dog.

He's a dog.

That's right, that's right.

Is it about labradoodle?

Is that mix?

It makes them suitable for this kind of.

We did a lot of studies when we started the program 12 years ago.

We did use rescues.

And when we met up with Crossfield Doodles, which is the great breeder that we get our dogs from.

We started to do a study and realized that the labradoodle is bringing a great deal to it.

They have that poodle in them, which makes them very intelligent.

They learn quickly, they want to learn, and they retain that information.

Labs are working dogs.

They're loyal.

They want to work hard.

That makes a great mix for a service dog.

And for us, the labradoodle is also they don't shed.

They're hyper allergenic.

They're going in a home, they're going everywhere.

They get along with other people, they get along with other animals.

And as he is demonstrating, basically he's calm.

And they are when they're working with anxiety, stress, depression, anger management issues that are PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, that I'm just going to sit here and be chill.

We thank you both so much for bringing him today and sharing him with us.

Right.

Thank you so much, Adrienne.

For the service you provide and helping those who have served us.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you.

And up next, we head to the old Martin Tower location, where there's a brand new center that integrates various women's health services all in one place.

Yeah, it's great to see that space used for something that can benefit the community.

And the building recently opened to patients.

Right, Brett?

That's right.

The Women's Health Center at Tower Place in Bethlehem.

It has services including obstetrics, gynecology, breast imaging, heart and vascular care, physical therapy and Euro gynecology.

It offers amenities like childcare and a snack shop to enhance patient experience.

From head to toe and every part in between, that's the idea behind a new health care facility in Bethlehem.

This building offers basically anything a woman would need in order to optimize their health care.

With input from doctors like Radical Elordi, the Women's Health Center at Tower Place was built to be a one stop shop for women seeking medical services through Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health.

So anything from adolescent care, all the way up through menopause and elderly care.

But can you tell me a little bit about what brings you in to see us today?

Open only a few months.

The concept so far seems successful.

It's giving female patients a place to check off their medical to do list in one location, often on the same day.

The health of women is more than just what we think of in obstetrics and gynecology.

It includes breast imaging and our heart and vascular disease and physical therapy programs.

So I think it really brings all of those things together under one roof, while also offering some additional amenities that are important to women.

They even have childcare covered and a snack shop as well.

We have partnered with our child care services within Lehigh Valley Hospital to provide child watch, so if you're scheduled for a service here, you will get a link to be able to sign up for children under 12 to be watched in a safe space and fun.

While you're getting the care that you need.

Jennifer Groff is the director of Outpatient Rehabilitation.

Located on the first floor, it's designed for patients focusing on pelvic floor physical therapy and lymphedema treatments.

She notes the building's high tech amenities.

We have considered all of the fine art touches in this space, so we have innovative technology that allows a patient to use their cell phone to connect to music of their choice in their own private exam room.

We have a serenity room where our patients can decompress after the recession and have ample time to sit in a zero gravity acoustical lounge chair just before they reenter life and take some time to decompress and, focus on their wellness as a whole.

Moving up to the second floor, flicker says its all things obstetrics.

We have our midwifery program that also includes centering pregnancy.

That's a group prenatal care model.

We have routine obstetrics, and then we also offer our maternal fetal medicine services for high risk pregnancies.

On the way in and out of the offices, local artwork greets patients to bring a community feel to the medical space.

And then our third floor is all things women's health.

So preventive women's care, gynecologic specialty programs and then our euro guidance services and hopefully coming soon will be dermatology and skin cancer screening.

So this is our Euro Dynamics room.

And it's very sophisticated room.

It has lot of catheters and technology.

In order for us to understand your incontinence, we have a all female team and the Euro gynecology division.

We tend to find that our women are, embracing their problem and able to speak openly about it.

They feel security and sharing their story with us.

And we find confidence in our team because we have specialized training in delivering that type of care.

A space where women can speak openly about health care, spending more time focusing on their well-being in one place, and less time traveling to different appointments across the Lehigh.

Valley.

If we can start bundling those services together, I really think that it makes it more accessible for people to achieve all of their health care needs.

LDH is looking to replicate this concept in different facilities all throughout the region to bring different services all.

Under one roof.

Well, that looked like a really nice facility.

Not your standard doctor's office.

Yeah, it really had a comfortable feel inside.

I was really impressed by the technology allowing patients to choose their music while they were waiting to be seen so long to those elevator tunes.

It's time to take to the kitchen.

If you're looking for a plant based meal for the whole family, we have you covered.

Sharing healthy recipes is one way to improve your diet, so here to share another healthy recipe is Danica Covington of Mama Nico's Homemade Things.

We are making a delicious treat today.

It's great to have you, Danica.

I'm glad to be here.

Thank you Brittany.

We are so glad to have you.

And so today we are making one that you could have probably all day long.

It's a play on mango sticky rice, but it's mango sticky oats.

Mango sticky oats.

Okay, so how do we get this started?

Okay, so we get start started.

We had we already put in here a cup of water and a cup of full fat coconut milk.

That's very important because it gives it that creamy texture okay.

So typically when you would make oatmeal you do water.

But we're using coconut milk today.

Yes.

And water.

So half and half here half and half.

Brought it to a boil.

Right.

Brought it to a boil.

And then we're going to add, cup of oats okay.

Rolled oats.

Wonderful.

And would you is this more of a breakfast or is this a dinner side or when do you serve it?

I have eaten it at breakfast and it can have.

Wonderful.

All right.

So versatile recipe for sure.

All right.

Great.

Why don't I stir that for you.

Why you get some of the other ingredients.

Where did you come up with this recipe?

You know what?

I love this lovely lady on Instagram.

Her name is Sweet Vegan.

Sweet vegan okay.

And she just gives us all the plant based ideas.

And I absolutely love mango sticky rice.

But it's white rice, you know, trying to be a little bit on the healthier side.

Mango sticky.

Oats.

Great.

All right.

Yeah.

What else are we going to add?

Our cinnamon sticks okay.

Yeah great.

Give that.

Let that seep a little.

Bit of cinnamon sticks in there.

We're going to cut up the mango slice.

The mango mango is absolutely delicious.

And you know what I recently just found out about mango that it is good for your digestion and for your gut health and your colon.

So not only are we eating plant based, we are improving our gut health with this recipe as well.

Now, Jenica as you're cutting that, why did you decide to go plant based for your family?

So my kids have severe allergies.

My daughter and my son are extremely allergic to dairy, my son eggs, and my daughter is fish and peanuts and sesame.

And so I didn't want to stop nursing when I had them.

So I continue to nurse them.

And in order to do that for my son, I had to eliminate the dairy out of my diet.

All right.

And did you see improvements when you went plant based for yourself because you were not plant based your whole life?

Lutely.

Absolutely.

And honestly, that's kind of why I've stuck to it.

Mommy, my son is eight now, and I haven't gone back because I have felt so much better in my body, you know, not as sluggish, not as weighed down, just overall better.

And I've got a lot of my family and my friends to eat more plant based.

By doing so, that's great.

And if someone's just getting started on their plant based journey, what are some tips you would have for them?

You know, as I take it, one day at a time, like start one day off with, you know, today is going to a lot of people do Meatless Monday, right?

Sure.

So yeah, you try a couple of days where you're going to be meatless and then take away, you know, something just little by little to help you ease into the process.

And you don't feel like you want to be completely plant based.

Like I said, do maybe 1 or 2 days a week.

Sure.

So you're saying baby steps?

Baby steps.

Yeah, I love that.

All right.

So any any rhyme or reason to cutting that mango, we're just chop it up into little pieces.

Mango is one of the hardest for I will say.

It really is.

Listen, we eat a lot of mango in our house.

But I make it pretty for you.

It's not clean and pretty when you cut it out.

No, it tastes delicious.

Delicious.

But we sacrifice the.

Yes.

The for the taste for.

She wanted a little pretty.

So I just kind of, you know, cut around the seed.

Great.

And then I, I just slice this.

Great.

And I am powering.

Up our process here.

It's looking good.

Great.

So I know you said about 3 to 5 minutes for the oats, right.

And boiling.

It smells delicious already.

Yeah.

All right.

And we just slice it like lengthwise.

Great.

And as you're cutting that up what are some of the other vegan treats that you make.

So one of the top flavors is my chocolate zucchini bread.

Delicious banana chocolate chip or just plain banana.

And I make those vegan.

And also they can be gluten free, you know, like this milk.

That's a big thing, that.

Thing these days as well.

A lot of people are realizing that they go gluten free for their diet grain.

All right.

So what are we doing next here?

So now we're going to but we're going to, put that turn off.

Well let's see how far we got on it.

Let's see a couple more minutes.

Are we.

Good or maybe one more.

Minute okay.

Great.

What else are we adding to this dish today?

We're just going to add.

And that's what I love about oh you can add whatever you like I usually add a little bit.

We put the cinnamon in there.

Yeah.

Already you can actually do ground cinnamon too if you don't have the sticks right.

You can do a little bit of nutmeg.

Some people, one of my friends.

She loves this apple pie spice.

And hers make it a little.

Great one.

And a little bit of vanilla.

Oh, wonderful.

Awesome.

So you can you can.

Experiment with a couple different flavors you really want.

I love you really, really kind of spice for this time of year.

Yes yes yes yes yes.

Great time of year for to add that.

All right.

So once we get this cooking it's really rocking and rolling in here.

Yeah.

And then we're going to add the mango here in a couple minutes.

In addition to the oats and some of the sweet treats that you make.

Is there anything that you make that the kids are really loving these days?

Yes, I do have savory dishes as well, like a play on.

I learned a lot of cooking from my grandmother, and she's a slow cooker to the heart.

And so I learned how to make the mac and cheese vegan.

And it is how it is a staple.

People love it.

I even make it a lot of a lot for friends who are lactose intolerant.

Sure, I make fried oyster mushrooms is like a play on fried chicken.

Yeah.

Was great.

It's delicious.

So there are ways to take some of our family favorites and make them just a little bit healthier and make them plant.

Yes, you don't have to give up everything that you love.

You just kind of alter it.

You kind of alter it.

And I think people just they're just wowed by it because they can't believe, man, this is, you know, a better.

Way of eating for the last time you were here, you made the tuna, the chickpea tuna, which was out of this world.

We all loved it here in the studio.

I'm so glad.

Yes.

And I think that these are simple, easy ways.

I think that the key word here being simple.

Absolutely.

It's not hard to make these different.

Pop this for that recipes.

All right.

Great.

So what do we do next with our.

All right we're going to oats here.

Yeah okay.

Yes.

This is.

Perfect.

Great.

This is perfect.

And you could I mean you could get a little bit thicker.

But you know as oats sit they thicken up.

They're going to.

Thicken.

Sure are.

Great.

All right.

So we're bring that right into the bowl there.

Report right in.

Oh right.

And like we said this is a mango sticky rice substitution.

So we're using oats instead of the rice that takes out some of the the processed white rice in the recipe.

All right.

So what are we adding to this one.

This is a little bit of nutmeg.

We already have the cinnamon okay I'm going to put a little bit of vanilla.

Great.

And if you don't have cinnamon sticks could you add a little bit of.

Cinnamon powder in there.

Yep yep the ground cinnamon just fine.

And then we put you know we're trying to not use sugar.

So we're going to use some of the maple here.

Maple sirup love.

That is a great substitution.

Also a great one for this time of year.

But he's been collecting their sirup over the summer and into the fall months.

They can get it natural.

Actually.

Great.

All right.

And stir that right after that up.

What do you often serve this with?

If you use it as a dessert, this is it, a dessert you love that.

Before.

Breakfast, you know, people compare it with fruit.

And that's why we're going to we're going to add it to add some little mango here.

Great.

All right.

Adding our mango and ginger.

If people want to check out some of your other recipes and check out Mom and Niko's homemade things, where can they find that information?

Yeah.

So I am on Facebook as Mom and Niko's homemade things, and through my Facebook page you'll see a link for my website because I also cater and do events you can order or place individual orders, and I'm also on Instagram as just mom and Nico's wonderful.

It sounds like you're really catering to the plant based group as well as those with allergies as well.

You know, sometimes people with allergies can't really find resources.

This is a great resource for them.

And then what are you topping it with here?

Sometimes the sesame seeds okay.

Now if I were serving this for my daughter Bella, I would not put the sesame seeds because she is allergic to certain.

Gotcha.

However, and that's what I love about it.

You could cater it to, you know, those needs.

Great, great.

I'm gonna.

Tell.

You right here and give it a taste.

In the meantime, tell us one more time where folks can find information about Mom and Nico's homemade things.

Yes, I'm on Facebook as mom and Nico's homemade things, and I'm on Instagram as mom and cousin.

In both of those social media sites, you will find information on how to order from me.

Wonderful!

That is delicious.

I know my kids will go crazy for that, for breakfast, meats, for breakfast and even for a for a dessert as well.

Tanika Covington thank you as always for joining us.

Absolutely delicious.

Check her out online.

Thanks for joining us.

Thanks so much for having me.

Oh that looks tasty.

Well, that will do it for this episode of living in the Lehigh Valley for PBS 39.

I'm Grover Silcox.

And I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Hoping you stay happy and healthy.