Senior Stars Animal Therapy is seeking $50,000 over two years from the Ann Ranger Foundation to start a new chapter called "Dogs as Friends" in Mankato, MN. The program will provide bi-weekly dog visits to combat loneliness and isolation in seniors. It will expand services from the existing North Star Therapy Animals organization, which has over 100 volunteers serving over 110 facilities with animal therapy. The funding will allow lonely and homebound elderly residents to socialize with therapy dog teams, improving their quality of life and well-being as studies have shown animal therapy can reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation in seniors.

1. Cover Letter
Senior Stars
Animal Therapy
Request for Initiating Dogs as
Friends Program
11/6/2016

2. November 6th, 2016
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Table of Contents
Letter of Intent……………………………………………………………………2
Cover Letter……………………………………………………………………… 3
Executive Summary/ Need Statement………………………………………… 4
Organizational Background……………………………………………………. 5
Program Description……………………………………………………………. 6
Program Goals and Objectives...………………………………………………. 7
Evaluation……………………………………………………………………… 7-8
Sustainability of the Project……………………………………………….……. 8
Budget……………………………………………………………………………. 8
Budget Narrative……………………………………...………………………… 9
Project Timeline…………………………………………………………...…. 9-10
Communications Plan……………………………………………………….… 10
Logic Model………………………………………………………..…………… 11
Appendix A (Letter from Collaborator)..……………………………………. 12
Appendix B (Budget from Collaborator)………………………...………….. 13
Appendix C (References)……………………………………………………… 14

3. November 6th, 2016
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November 6th, 2016
The Ann Ranger Foundation
Attn: Ann Ranger, Director
200 South Whatever Street
Chicago, Illinois 60010
Dear Ms. Ranger:
Senior Stars Animal Therapy is excited to announce that as of January 2017 they are preparing to
start up their new program “Dogs as Friends” in Mankato, MN. We are seeking your support of
$50,000, to cover the next two years, from The Ann Ranger Foundation to support the growing
elderly community to combat feelings of loneliness and isolation experienced by far too many
seniors. We plan to do this by providing bi-weekly “Dogs as Friends” teams to clients to provide
companionship and socialization they may not otherwise experience. Senior Stars Animal
Therapy is a new chapter of North Star Therapy Animals that currently exists in the Twin Cities
Metro. We are seeking to expand our services to the southern parts of Minnesota but want to start
on a smaller scale.
Founded in 2007, North Star Therapy Animals has served over 110 facilities with animal-
assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy sessions. North Star Animal Therapy currently has
over 100 volunteers, providing sessions with dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and miniature
horses. Therapy and activity sessions have been provided to facilities including hospitals,
schools, libraries, nursing homes, hospice & physical therapy centers, assisted living facilities as
well as specialty care facilities such as those serving individuals with autism, eating disorders, or
developmental disabilities. Many have visited libraries as part of their North Star Readers
Program as well as several visits to the Ronald McDonald House.
By providing the chapter: Senior Stars, we will be able to expand our outreach to the southern
region of Minnesota and focus on the growing senior population. Through the potential
collaboration with The Ann Ranger Foundation, we at NSTA recognize that our shared goal of
providing social service endeavors to a wide variety of individuals will decrease feelings of
isolation and loneliness by providing animal-assisted therapy proven to increase the overall well-
being of individuals. Over the course of the next two years we will implement the requested
funding of $50,0000 that will provide a simple social service of “dogs as friends” teams to
interact with a vulnerable group of our community.
We would be more than happy to submit a full proposal with additional information for your
review upon request.
Sincerely,
Emily Huttner

4. November 6th, 2016
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November 6th, 2016
The Ann Ranger Foundation
Attn: Ann Ranger, Director
200 South Whatever Street
Chicago, Illinois 60010
Dear Ms. Ranger:
On behalf of the board of directors and staff at Senior Stars Animal Therapy (SSAT), we would
like to thank you for the opportunity to submit a complete proposal request for initiating the
program Senior Stars for support over 24 months in the amount of $50,000. Through your
support we plan on providing animal assisted therapy for seniors living in Mankato, MN. Senior
Stars would be a new chapter of the existing organization; North Star Therapy Animals (NSTA).
This is an innovative program that is currently provided by North Star Therapy Animals in the
metro area. NSTA has existed since 2007 with over 100 current volunteers, and has provided
service to more than 110 facilities over the past 9 years.
By starting a new chapter in Mankato, MN we will be able to reach even more of the growing
senior population. Animal assisted therapy has been proven to decrease the feelings of loneliness
and isolation that the elderly may experience due to being homebound, living alone or in nursing
homes.
Thanks to your consideration and ongoing support we have the potential to decrease the feelings
of isolation and loneliness experienced by the elderly population and increase their overall well-
being through dog visits in Mankato, a demographic that is often otherwise overlooked. We
sincerely hope The Ann Ranger Foundation will join us as a partner in implementing this simple
and much needed program. Please feel free to contact me at (507)-123-4657 if you need any
additional information. We truly appreciate your consideration of our request and look forward to
hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Emily Huttner

5. November 6th, 2016
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Executive Summary/Needs Statement
The elderly population often gets over looked and the potential of living alone and
becoming isolated is a reality for far too many. According to a survey conducted by the U.S.
Census Bureau, 11 million or 28 percent of people aged 65 and older lived alone in 2010. With a
population of 39,309 people in Mankato, MN 10.6% of individuals were aged 65 or older (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2010). That is just under 4,000 individuals potentially living alone. Regardless
of living alone, many elderly adults are prone to loneliness. Perissinnotto’s (2012) study found
that while 43 percent of the older adults surveyed felt lonely, only 18 percent actually lived
alone. There are many risks factors to seniors living alone, particularly isolation and loneliness.
In a study conducted by Carla Perissinnotto MD MHS assistant professor in the University of
California, San Francisco Division of Geriatrics, found that “…loneliness is independently
associated with an increased rate of death and functional decline”. Our program seeks to provide
dog visits as a form of animal assisted therapy to help decrease feelings of loneliness and provide
additional social interaction to the elderly in our community. Animal assisted therapy has been
proven to increase overall wellness of individuals. In a study conducted by Cipriani et. al.
(2013), they found that animal assisted therapy
“…can have a positive influence on the quality of life of residents of LTC (long term
care) facilities. For example, if a resident exhibits decreased agitation, improves her
ability to verbalize her feelings to others, or increases her independence in dressing, she
may also be likely to report an improved quality of life” (p.236).
This study proves the type of impact animal assisted therapy can have and the positive
changes these dog visits will make. As a demographic of the community that tends to become
invisible and sometimes even undervalued we hope to provide a simple service to increase their
well-being. Our organization hopes to decrease the feelings of loneliness and isolation. We plan
to do so by providing dog visits as animal assisted therapy to the elderly that are homebound,
living alone, or in nursing homes. This service seeks to improve these individuals’ overall quality
of life.

6. November 6th, 2016
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Organizational Background
Senior Stars Animal Therapy seeks to become a new chapter of the currently existing
North Stars Therapy Animals organization. North Starts Therapy Animals (NSTA) was created in
October of 2007 by a group of volunteers who were working to provide animal therapy teams
and services to facilities in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, metropolitan areas of Minnesota. NSTA
is a 100% volunteer organization that currently has over 125 members. Ninety percent of current
member have one or more registered therapy animal partners. All members are passionate about
providing therapy animal services and benefits to those in their communities. In 2010 NSTA
established its first Board of Directors to allow the organization further development and growth.
By 2011 they incorporated themselves as a nonprofit organization and were granted tax-exempt
status as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The mission of North Star Therapy Animals is to improve the lives of countless
individuals throughout the Twin Cities area by providing high-quality therapy animal teams and
services to a wide variety of facilities.
NSTA has worked with over 110 different facilities providing animal-assisted visits and
animal assisted therapy with a variety of pets including dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and
miniature horses. All of the animals are trained as well as their handlers and are tested through
Pet Partners ® program and need to be evaluated every two years. Their registration allows the
teams to volunteer at multiple facilities including hospitals, schools, libraries, nursing homes,
hospice & physical therapy centers, assisted living facilities as well as specialty care facilities
such as those serving individuals with autism, eating disorders, or developmental disabilities.
Many have visited libraries as part of their North Star Readers Program as well as several visits
to the Ronald McDonald House.
Senior Stars Animal Therapy mission is to improve the lives of the elderly currently
residing in Mankato, MN by providing high-quality dog assisted therapy visits to those who are
homebound, living alone, in assisted living or in nursing homes. The services provided are
completely free to clients and are offered voluntarily by handlers and their pets.
Senior Stars Animal Therapy (SSAT) will be working with PAWS Inc. for use of space
and Pet Partners ® for certification. Paws Inc. Mankato will serve as their home base location to
provide training and testing of therapy dogs through Pet Partners ®. PAWS Inc. clients can also
serve as volunteers for SSAT if their dogs are certified.

7. November 6th, 2016
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Program Description
Senior Stars will provide 40 “Dogs as Friends” teams to do bi- weekly dog-
assisted activities or dog- assisted therapy (as the handler and pets certifications allow)
visits to senior citizens living in Mankato, MN. To provide companionship and
socialization for 40 different clients that may be experiencing feelings of isolation or
loneliness due to being homebound, living alone, in a nursing home, or assisted living.
Handlers and pets will complete training and certification for animal-assisted
therapy through Pet Partners ®. Pets/dogs are required to demonstrate that they can
reliably complete obedience skills such as walking on a loose leash and respond to
commands such as “sit”, “stay”, “down”, “come”, and “leave it”. They also must
welcome interactions with strangers not just tolerate them.
Each “Dogs as Friends” team (handler + Pet) will make bi- weekly visits to the
same client(s) or 2 visits a month. Visits will be relaxed interactions with teams and
their clients. Handler can bring a comb and or treats provided by SSAT to their sessions.
These visits are for clients to bond with the pets and provide additional social
interaction that may not otherwise receive.
For in- home clients they will have one “Dogs as Friends” team visit bi-weekly.
For clients living in nursing or assisted care facilities we may send more than one team
to do a larger group visit for multiple residents.

8. November 6th, 2016
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Program Goals and Objectives
Process Objectives:
 Providing relax dog visits and socialization as a use of assisted therapy for senior
citizens over the course of 12 months
 Provide bi- weekly or twice a month visits to those participating in the program; home
visits for senior citizens as well as visiting senior care facilities in the Mankato
community.
 Develop relationships between the dogs and clients; senior citizens, who are homebound,
living alone, assisted living or nursing homes to decrease feelings of loneliness and
isolation
Outcome Objective:
 Reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness among 85% of those participating in the
program; senior citizens enrolled in the program.
Evaluation
The program director will provide SSAT clients with a written evaluation form to
rate their feelings on a scale of 1-5. 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, 4 agree, 5
strongly agree. Statements to be included; I feel lonely, I feel sad, I wish I had visitors,
I wish I had a pet, I enjoy spending time with a companion, I feel happy, I enjoy
socializing, I leave my room more than to go to the bathroom or to eat. An additional
section for comments will be provided as well. Clients will fill out an evaluation form
before their first session and again after every 6 months. The clients can choose to have
a relative or care giver fill out an evaluation as well. The program will run for 24
months which will allow 1 initial evaluation and 4 follow ups. Through the follow up
evaluation we hope to see how the visits have impacted the client’s feelings of isolation,
sadness and social behavior. Our goal is to increase feelings of championship and
socialization while reducing isolation. These will be collected by the program director
or the handler.
Volunteers will record and log the number of clients they have and how frequently the
visit.

9. November 6th, 2016
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The program director will store and record the client’s evaluations as well as the
volunteers’ logs of clients and visits. After 12 months the evaluations and logs will be
reviewed to see if the program is functioning at, below or above capacity and if changes
could be made. Comment sections will be reviewed to find out if there are any
suggestions from clients on how to better serve them as not only clients but
stakeholders as well.
Sustainability of the Project
Every 24 months pets and handlers will need to be reevaluated through Pet
Partners® for certification which will be perfect time to evaluate how the program has
been functioning. Through the collected client surveys, their experiences will be
reviewed. The number of handler and pet teams will be reviewed alongside the number
of requests for services we have received to see if we can take on more clients or not. If
we feel that the clients overall well-being has increased and we can adequately serve
the target population we will continue the program as expected. If the program’s request
for service reaches beyond our capacity we will then request more funding to expand
our program and consider the possibly begin including a larger variety of pets.
Budget
Expenses Year One: 2018 Year Two: 2019 Total
Staffing 11,000 11,000 22,000
Training 3,800 N/A 3,800
Gear 4,000 N/A 4,000
Training Space 5,000 5,000 10,000
Office Supplies 3,000 3,000 6,000
Indirect costs
(8.4%) 2,100 2,100 4,200
Total Expenses $28,900 $21,100 $50,000

10. November 6th, 2016
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Budget Narrative
 Staffing – Program director salary/stipend
Duties include: finding clients, coordinate volunteers, set up training,
collaborate with Paws Inc. and Pet Partners ®, review and record survey
data.
 Training – Handler + Pet Training and Testing (40 teams/ $95 training & testing)
Handlers will be trained and tested through Pet Partners®. Certification is
only required every 2 years. This covers liability insurance, access to
additional resources and free continuing education coursework.
 Gear – Pet/Dog gear includes; harness, leash, comb and treats (40 teams/ 40
harnesses, leashes)
 Training space – rental fee for space used at PAWS Inc. + Office space
 Office Supplies – Materials needs to complete training as well as for evaluation
surveys
 Indirect costs – unexpected costs that may be incurred.
Project Timeline
 January 2017– North Stars Animal Therapy Recruits 40 potential handlers +
pets teams in Mankato area, transfer or hire program director for Senior Stars
Animal Therapy Chapter in Mankato, MN.
 March 2017 – Invite Paws Inc. clients to sign up as potential handlers
 May 2017- Have potential handler + pet teams contact the program director of
Senior Stars Animal Therapy. SSAT director begins contacting potential nursing
and assisted living facilities in Mankato, MN.
 September 2017 - SSAT program director books rental space at PAWS Inc.,
invite PAWS Inc., create an ad promoting “Dogs as Friends” program to the
community for seniors homebound or living alone.
 November 2017– Hold animal therapy training for handler + pet teams at PAWS
Inc., purchase gear for teams.
 December 2017 – Handler + Pet teams complete testing and certification, receive
gear, have animal therapy locations booked and send out evaluation surveys.
Begin recruiting again for “Dogs as Friends” teams.
 Second to last week of December 2017- Contact handler +pet teams schedules
for the upcoming Senior Stars animal therapy sessions

11. November 6th, 2016
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 January 2018 – Senior Stars Animal Therapy sessions begin!
 February through June 2018 – Sessions continue and book any additional
clients we can serve.
 June 2018 – SSAT program directors sends out follow up evaluation surveys to
clients, book space at PAWS Inc. for new “Dogs as Friends” team training.
 August 2018- Hold animal therapy training for new handler + pet teams at PAWS
Inc., purchase gear for new teams. Continue booking clients for new teams to
begin January 2019.
 December 2018 – Review evaluations from clients to find out what
improvements we can make to the program, apply for additional funding, work
on expanding “Dogs as Friends” teams and clients.
Communications Plan
The target audience is:
 40 senior citizens in the Mankato community experiencing feeling of
loneliness or isolation due to being home bound, living alone, in a nursing
or assisted living.
The nature of change among the target audience is:
 To socialize
 To empower
Specific knowledge, attitude or behavior to be achieved:
 Promote a socialization
 Decrease feelings of loneliness and isolation
 Feeling of companionship and increased overall well-being
Amount of change desired:
 85% of clients feel a decrease of loneliness and isolation
 Awareness of social factors impacting seniors’ health
Target date:
 December 31st
, 2018

12. November 6th, 2016
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Logic Model
Situation:
Approximately 4,000 individuals aged 65 and older are potentially living alone in Mankato,
MN. Elderly adults are prone to loneliness and isolation even when they are not living alone.
Goals:
 Decrease the number of
elderly experiencing
loneliness & isolation
 Increase socialization among
the elderly community
 Increase the overall well-
being of clients
Inputs:
 Program director
 Volunteers (Handlers and pets)
 Clients
 Training
 Facilities
 Gear
 Materials
 $50,000
 24 months
Outputs:
 Certified therapy
teams
 Therapy sessions
 Companionship
 Social interactions
 Feelings evaluations
Short Term:
 Increased social interaction
 Opportunities for companionship
 Increased number of therapy
trained handlers and pet teams in
the Mankato area
Long term:
 Decreased feelings of loneliness and
isolation
 Increased overall well-being of clients
 Ongoing partnerships with Pet
Partners® and North Star Animal
Therapy developing a large
community of Therapy Teams
Outcomes

13. November 6th, 2016
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APPENDIX A – Letter From Collaborator
Pet Partners
Bilyana Yakova
875 124th Ave NE, Suite 101
Bellevue, WA 98005 U.S.A.
Office: 425-679-5500
October 5, 2016
Ms. Emily Huttner
Director
Senior Stars Animal Therapy
PO Box 26053
St Louis Park, MN 55426
Dear Ms. Huttner:
We are excited to inform you that your request for collaboration with Pet Partners ® has been
reviewed an accepted. The total cost of the requested 40 certifications will be $3,800. In order
to guarantee your training sessions and certification testing for your handler + pet teams, a
deposit of $2,000 will be required by January 1, 2017. Once your deposit has been made we
can reserve training for your teams. The remaining balance of $1,800 is to be paid upon
completion of certification. Recertification is required every two years. Since your program is
currently expected to last 24 months, we look forward to potentially continuing collaboration if
your program continues.
We have been delighted to work with North Stars Animal Therapy and have no doubt Senior
Stars will be a success. We are proud to be working with such a wonderful organization. Please
review the provided terms and conditions attached regarding liability insurance as well as code
of conduct, and policies and procedures.
We look forward to scheduling training!
Sincerely,
Bilyana Yakova
Program Manager

14. November 6th, 2016
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APPENDIX B – Budget From Collaborator
Pet Partners
Budget
Number of
Certifications
Cost Per
Certification Team Total
40 $95 $3,800
Total Cost $3,800

15. November 6th, 2016
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APPENDIX C – REFERENCES
Cipriani, J., Cooper, M., DiGiovanni, N. M., Litchkofski, A., Nichols, A. L., & Ramsey, A.
(2013). Dog-Assisted Therapy for Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities: An Evidence-
Based Review with Implications for Occupational Therapy. Physical And Occupational
Therapy In Geriatrics, 31(3), 214-240.
Perissinotto CM, Stijacic Cenzer I, Covinsky KE. Loneliness in Older Persons: A Predictor of
Functional Decline and Death. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(14):1078-1084.
doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1993.
Pet Partners ® https://petpartners.org/volunteer/become-a-handler/
North Stars Therapy Animals http://northstartherapyanimals.org/about/