It gives me a reason to do something.

That sense of purpose.

You kind of lose that being in here.

And I'm glad I'm part of this program because I don't kno what I would be doing right now.

Like, inmates actually ge to work with all of these dogs.

The guys just love it.

It's something they can giv back to the community for that.

You know, it's just a small way, but it's still a little something they provide.

Like I said, for myself.

Something that can give them a sense of security, a sense of, companionship.

There have bee some really tremendous positives that have come from this that we hear from, both the prisons and from our trainers.

It gave us something, you know, normal, something that we, you know, something that we've lost.

I mean, once you establish that bond with them, everything comes from you.

Yes.

You have a lot of joy.

And she she love to have fun.

She's quite a lot of tennis and should not be.

She loves to be hugged.

It's really been this really wonderful process to get our dogs where they need to go so they can do what we're supposed to be doing, which is helping people.

a unique program in Muskegon County Correctional Facility is producing life changing impacts that go far beyond the prison's walls.

It's a partnership that West Michigan nonprofit Paws With the Cause calls a win win for the community, where inmate are transforming into trainers for aspiring service animals.

It's an idea where second chance opportunities are creating a domino effect, benefiting trainers, dogs and the recipients alike.

Today, we're taking you into the heart of this mission.

Okay.

Go ahea and walk around with your dogs.

I. So can you talk with me a little bit about your journey to the facility?

And just as a person so far.

Well, when I first.

When I first came in, I was.

I kind of gave up on everything.

Then when a when they started introducing the dog programs and stuff, I decided I'd finally try it.

And it kind of gave me a sense of purpose.

You know, I once I start seeing what the dogs are going to be for, you know, they're going out to help people, you know?

So that's kind of my personal way of trying to give back fo something that I can't give back for.

Paws exist to transform lives and really strengthen communities through these working partnerships with our dogs.

It was about 2007, 2008, whe we really started thinking about how do we help our dogs really build some additional skills.

And, who could be a really good partnership?

That would be a win win for both our dogs and the community as a whole.

It was abou 2009 ish when we went in there into our first prison, an it was really this mindset about how do you take these young dogs, help them really get a better consistency in their training.

And, and so the inmates who are there 24, seven, actually have the dog live in the room with them, and they're working with these dog on those basic obedience skills, but sort of bringing them up to the next level.

Let's do a sit down recall.

Let's.

So I didn't actually get into to it until 2018.

When I started, we had five prisons.

I was in three of them.

I did all the training and those three shortly after that or in that tim frame, I've been at six years.

I actually added on three more prisons.

So it's very exciting to have eight prisons now that we are working with and how much great fun it is to watch the guys in the dogs interact with each other.

I've been known about it for over the years, but I've been a maintenance guy and I was always going around fixing heater boxes, washing machines, etc.

and once they, you know, rolled me off from that facility, I was like, I got a desir to do something else different.

Had a list up and on a JPA machine, and I read it and I was like, what?

Oh, I thought, I want to b a part of that, to be a part of, a dog's life and a dog part of my life.

And maybe help me to see things a lot more clear than I would see.

They go through a lot of screening before they're even put into the program.

And it's a very good, good thing to know that they that they're doing that because obviously we want the guys to take really good care of our dogs.

And that's a lot of what they screen for.

We bring in our dogs to the prison.

We have two inmates on one dog.

That way they get 24 seven care.

We train classes there with them.

Well, the first three days is just about.

There's no commands.

Nobody else pets a dog.

It's just you, your partner in the dog after that.

And then you start to to initiate smaller commands.

So you see what the dog knows.

Because.

Because these dogs come from razor families.

So you have to try to see where the dog is at.

We have a week by week curriculum that we go by, so that we try to keep the dog on task with what's going on as a possibility, so that when these dogs go back, they're all in line.

Let's pause.

Curriculum.

We work on canin good, citizen basic obedience, intermediate obedience, advanced and pro and all of that stuf we take after we work with it.

Towards the end of the 24 weeks that there is there.

We do all the testing on that to see, you know, where the guys are at and what the dogs have learned and so on and so forth.

So, and the guys have a lot of fun with it right at the end of the leash.

Call your dogs to come.

The guys are always looking for the most challenging dogs because when they're training these dogs, it was so amazing when I first walked to the priso that within a couple of weeks.

These guys have got most of our curriculum already in place, and I'm like, I gotta give you guys more stuff to do.

So, so I did add on some stuff, but the guys just love it.

It's something they can giv back to the community for that.

They just want to learn.

And our dogs themselves as they go in, very immature.

And when they get their the guys in the dogs just start working together as a team.

Can yo tell me a little bit about Eli?

Eli.

Yes.

He is a very energetic dog, really smart.

Just he's fun.

You know, once you're able to to show him what you want, he'll just repeat it.

Repeat it, he'll repeat it.

And sometime he gets a little bit energetic and he'll just start running through stuff to se what kind of a treat he can get.

He, he loves to do the tunnels.

He loves to go under chairs, you know.

So under like this, it' kind of a comfort thing for him getting that energy under control.

His impulse control, his meet and greets with new people and stuff like that.

We're slowly it's a it's a, it's a baby step process.

But once they get it, he'll get it.

Tresca loves to be hugged.

She loves to be.

She she loves attention.

She loves people when they rub her.

And she love what she loved.

He constantly loved it.

She loved it.

She'd like to get outside and walk around and.

And she list everything you say.

He.

You don't have to pull the collar.

You're got to love it.

She.

Do you actually do some?

She do it.

No.

She very respectful like that.

Prescott, stop!

Come on back.

We do.

Three months and six months, reports on him so that we.

That way they can mark the progress.

The progress at the end is probably about the most important one to get down.

So that way, the trainers at the other facility know what the dogs are capable of.

You know, the pros, the cons.

You know what they need to work with.

And from there, they decide, you know, okay, this dog will be suited for this work.

This one will be suited for this work.

This will be, you know, so that way they can match the dog with the client that they're going for.

And they get these, in essence, puppies in a large puppies.

And by the time they're leaving, they're just so mature.

And you can see them respond.

And and it's such a pride moment for our inmates to think that those dogs are going to go on and do some amazing things.

And then our trainers have loved it.

You know, our dogs are here for final training for 5 to 10 months.

That's a long time before we were doing the prison program.

You'd be adding two and three months to that training period so that they would learn those basic skills.

And so really consisten working on loose leash walking, which sounds like a small thing, but it's critical for our clients.

I have a spinal cord injury.

And so, I am a quadriplegic.

And I have been with the Paws program since 1999.

Tarzan is my third dog that I've had.

I've had two other dogs, a black lab and another golden retriever.

I do work full time and so Tarzan goes to work with me.

I'm a pretty active person, so he goes to a lot of different places with me.

He goes to restaurants, he goes to stores.

He went to the Lantern Festival at the John Ball Zoo.

The bigges thing that he helps me with is, picking things up, picking objects up off the floor, which I believe is usually the most common task for people who are in wheelchairs, because we have a tendency to drop things a lot.

I have poor grip in my fingers and my hands and stuff, so he picks things up all the time for me.

He also can close doors.

He can help take, like, my jacket off.

He can just tug right on the sleeve there, and then he can pull it off from there, too.

Oh, and he can also he's also trained to get the telephone too.

And so that's one of his favorite tasks.

So, I just tell him phone and he goes, and he gets the telephone.

Then he's very intelligent.

He's a very intelligent dog.

So.

When you talk about a client who, maybe uses a cane or a walker and, and really has a balance impairment, it becomes really importan that dogs can actually be there.

Cane for them, can help the keep up on their their studies if they start to fall.

Counterbalance dog will actually help, right you so you can keep walking and moving forward.

You have to have a dog who' going to be right by your side and be ready to make that adjustment when you start to tip.

So, being able to build just that skill alone is absolutely critical.

I did have an incident one time.

It's actually kind of a funny story now that I look back on it and laugh not with Tarzan, but with, Archer, wher I was going up to the freezer, and to reach something, and some plug came undone with my wheelchair and I couldn't get pat down, and I was just, like, completely stuck.

And I didn't have my cell phone within reach.

And so I had to tell Arche phone, because that's the word.

That's the command that you give them.

And so he had to go get the phone.

And that' how I was able to call for help.

I mean, if it wasn't for Archer being able to do that, who knows how lon I would have been stuck there.

I mean, maybe till the next morning.

And that's why we exist every day is to help people.

And so having our dogs be abl to do that to the best, highest ability is a win for us and for our clients.

But the prison program specifically is a win for the community because you're getting all of that and that real impact it has o the clients that we're serving.

But it also means that we're having a real impact on those inmates and those people going through that system and really helping them buil important life skills, important social emotional skill that help them to be successful wherever they end up in their lives.

So when the guys start working with the dogs, they obviously bond with them.

They are very protective of the dogs, so they keep very, very close eyes on them.

I treat her like she's my daughter.

I've got a a lot of love inspiration for dogs all over the world and I want the best for them.

But she's like a daughter to me.

I will do anything in my power to protect her.

Any other dog like one guy, he.

When he says something bad about my dog, I said, wait, no, no.

Which is why I said no, don't call it a. Her name is Fresca.

Don't disrespect it.

He said, why are you why are you saying it?

I said, because how would you like me if you walked down the street with your daughter and somebody just call your daughter?

Name?

So I said, no, that's disrespectful.

So said no.

You're right.

Sorry.

I'm apologize.

And I brought the dog about her over there to them.

And I say thrust and said, so now your pet.

So they stop had known as a nice little treat.

You have more treats that can tater and stuff like that.

So that makes me feel good.

I don't discriminate, wouldn't know about it.

Whoever you are, you want to pet the dog, by all means have to make you feel good and make me feel better.

The guys are what make it happen.

It's the dogs that are there that make it happen.

The dogs are a very big part of the whole prison program, not only for the inmates, but for the staff.

It just makes it a much stronger program.

And a lot of times the dogs will go up to the office.

And if somebody has got a real down day, I can bring a dog to them and they can just cuddle on the dog and love on them, and they love that.

I've done two poodles, two goldens, and this would be my second black lab.

So I mean, it's hard.

People make attachments to these dogs because I mean, I mean, there is a bond.

You create a bond with them and their dog is with you for for months on end.

First thing you wake up whe you see them first New Year's, you know, when you go back to sleep, they're, you know, they're there.

And then just one day you get to give them up.

They train them during the day and they most of them are in their cells with them and just sleep on a dog bed.

And the guys are very sad when they leave in, the dogs are looking at them like, I'm not leaving.

I want to stay here.

Is that my heart?

I hate to see her leave, but it's time for her to move on.

And they teach us not to get too attached, but it's kind of hard.

I feel connected, I feel very connected with her.

She like to love my life, I love her, and, I really do.

I adore her, I wish I could take a woman when I got home.

You have to keep in mind what they're going for is.

If not.

I mean, we've seen we've seen grown men break into tears at the dog leaving.

Luckily it kind of helps the transition, getting a new one right away.

So then you all your focus is on on that new one.

So the easiest thing in this is the same thing for raising foster puppies is we just trade out at the same time.

So you get you bringing one dog back out of the prison and we're giving them right one right away.

So that gives them an opportunity to not forget about the dog, but they're not thinking about it 24 seven.

And it makes it a lot easier.

So they're just ready to go for the next one.

They bring another dog in in her place, and we like to start the program all over again.

So, I'll let it.

I'll let the whole change of scenery, change of, perspective, different dogs we have.

I love it, I love every minute of.

You said it's a it's a small way to give back.

What emotionally have you fee like you've kind of gotten some.

Your participation and a sense of purpose i probably about the biggest one.

You kind of lose that being in there.

So getting the dogs and being able to train them to have that assistance for someone that needs it, it's something I never thought of before.

But now, after doing this, you know, I've even extended studies to try to do this.

And this is probably something I'm going to try to take with me once I leave here.

I've recently added i some other stuff with the guys, because I want them when they get out of prison, to be able to have some skills under them, like a training manager to learn how to teach classes, to learn how to set up a business for training.

And then the other one I've set up is grooming.

There's so many things that I can put into the prison system, that the guys can come out having skills built up and ready to go when they get out of prison, and they love it.

You fel in love with this whole process.

What is it about your job that kind of makes you want to wake up and keep doing it every day?

I love i because I like to watch the guys working with the dogs.

I like to watch them, learn and continue learning.

And I know that helps the guys a lot too, because there is a there's a lot of anxiety and pressure when you're in the prison system, but to have the dogs there with you, that really helps calm down a lot of things.

And it just it just works.

And just works.

The first dog I had wasn't his name was miss.

Secon or the brother had passed away.

I was hurt and I was this sitting down like this.

And this comes in and he puts my hand up and and gave me a hug.

So I hugged him back and then changed everything.

Give me.

There have been some really tremendous positives that have come from this.

For the prisons.

They're finding that inmates are building really important life skills and, they can really see the development of these dogs over the six months that they're there.

These these inmates are really talk about how life changing it is for them.

One of the guys came up to m and said, you know, before I did this program, I was taking three different meds for anxiety.

I'm like, wow, that's a lot.

And he said, once I got the dog, I went down to one.

And so just hearing those stories about the guy and then some of them, you know, they went into prison fo whatever it was that they did, and they turned themselves around by using the dogs because they have to have a responsibility to take care of them.

They have to train them.

They have to make sure that they're staying safe.

They have to make sure they're getting fed.

And with all this possibility that they have with us and changes them, it makes them to realize that, yes, I can take care of something and be proud of it.

They basically telling you to love it's okay to live.

And I had my head down a lot and so I came into the progra and I started having my head up and start seeing what's going on around me.

And it felt good to me that I got, I got something that I really wanted to do.

And from that point on, I've just been inspired to move forward, has come, has come back, back that I was inspired to move forward.

I got the choice.

I could just sit down and just let the time pass by me.

But having having th opportunity to have these dogs and be able to send them dog out to help a child to to help an elderly person to to comfort somebody on a plane, you know, there's just a multitude of things that these dogs can go for.

It's amazing.

I mean, it's it's been a journe that's coming, coming down and, you know, it's it' one that I won't be forgetting, being a small part of that.

It just gives me a reason to keep moving forward.

High five.

Yeah.

The museum has about 6800 works of art in the collection.

And right now we only have around 75 works by known African-American artists.

It was many, many years of changing perspectives and changin whose voices were at the table.

It's always been an uphill battle.

We came to Grand Rapids.

We were the only African-American gallery here in town.

The problem of huma trafficking and sex trafficking, specifically is a huge issue.

It's everywhere in Kent County in the suburbs, into the rural areas, in homes and hotels.

It's everywhere.

Being the first black firefighter and the first black fire chief in this city of.

He broke barriers at a glance.

How serious is this right now?

It's pretty dramatic.

There's definitely a feeling among the male population in this countr that they've been left behind.

And I think academics is one of the places where they feel it's not for them.

They're not right for it.

I like to say that cancer is the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me.

Primarily because I have a new outlook on life.

When I join the military, I want to change.

Be careful what you wish for because I got change.

You know I got more change than I ever imagined.

It gives you just a different light on life and a different perspective.

Thanks for watching.

You can find this episode and others online at WGU Dawgs Mutually Inclusiv or by visiting our YouTube page.

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Thank you for helping us be mutually inclusive.

Oh.