Introducing the Ronnie Stanley Foundation
We are incredibly excited to share the launch of a very special program in partnership with Baltimore Ravens player Ronnie Stanley. Earlier this year, Ronnie approached the team at BARCS with a great new program concept: humans helping animals, and animals helping humans. He wanted to launch a foundation that would connect families in need with dogs that would support, uplift and love their people.
Ronnie has always been a champion for rescue dogs here in Baltimore and beyond. In his rookie year, he visited BARCS with the goal to take home our “least adoptable dog.” Lola, as she is now known, is one of three of Ronnie’s furry family members and easily Baltimore’s most beloved pup.
With this passion in mind, The Ronnie Stanley Foundation was created to improve the quality of life for rescue dogs and individuals in need. The Foundation trains and cultivates the therapeutic properties of rescue dogs to be matched with individuals who have faced various life challenges such as illness, emotional trauma and other hardships. These matches are even more meaningful because rescue dogs are placed in their forever homes.
The first family to work with The Ronnie Stanley Foundation is part of the Casey Cares, a nonprofit organization that works with critically ill children and their families. They were looking for a companion and emotional support animal for a young girl named Nikira who lives with sickle cell anemia.
Four-year-old Lyric was just the dog for the job. This sweet and trusting pup was found as a stray in Baltimore City. During her medical exam, our team learned that she had recently had puppies… but her puppies could not be found. Her story reminded Ronnie a lot of his dog Lola, who was also found in a very similar situation. Despite her background, Lyric was a very good girl who listened perfectly and was social with humans of all ages. Once Lyric was selected for this program, she was boarded and trained to be Nikira’s emotional support animal. The Ronnie Stanley Foundation partners with Leash Free Living for this key part of the process.
After a month of specialized emotional support animal training, Lyric was ready to meet Nikira, her mom and siblings. On a chilly and windy day in March, the family arrived at BARCS and were greeted by Lyric the moment they opened the door. It was love at first sight. Leash Free Living trainer Emily showed Nikira how to communicate her needs to Lyric. Thanks to her training and docile nature, Lyrics understands when Nikira needs her help or her snuggles. The Ronnie Stanley Foundation will care for Lyric’s needs for the rest of her life so her family never has to worry about additional, unexpected medical costs.
We are so grateful to Ronnie for creating this wonderful program that supports the human-animal bond and makes it accessible to special families in our community. In addition, this program is proving that shelter animals, even those with heartbreaking histories, can hold these esteemed service roles. Lyric went from being a once discarded dog to the anchor of her new family, providing comfort to Nikira when she’s in pain as well as companionship and love to the whole family.
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