Meet Ellie Mae

Our Refuge family is excited to announce the arrival of our new therapy dog, Ellie Mae.  She will join our family on June 14th and will be a working therapy dog.  We believe she will play an important part to our team because she brings something most humans can never provide - a furry body to cuddle!  
We plan on incorporating her into our regular scheduled appointments with our kiddos and their caregivers.
There is a lot of research to support how having a therapy dog can help provide the following:
- Lower blood pressure 
- Release endorphins and calms the mind 
- Diminishes overall physical pain, reducing amount of medication needed 
- Lifts spirits and lessens depression 
- Encourages communication 
- Provides comfort 
- Increases socialization and sense of community 
- Decreases anxiety 
- Helps children overcome speech and emotional disorders 
- Creates motivation for clients to recover faster 
- Reduces loneliness 
- Helps children focus better 

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