Executive Director and AHELP Co-founder

  • Thank you for your good tips in this article, Jane!!

  • "Help for Animal Hospice Caregivers" Donate Now!

    $4,848.00 raised
    GOAL: $6,000.00
    Your generous donation enables AHELP Project to support those who need our help the most. Every dollar goes directly into our mission, supporting animal caregivers and their families while their beloved animals are ill and will make life’s last transition. 
     
    NEW projects we're rolling out in 2019-2020:
     

    More families will receive individualized animal hospice services through "HELP for Animal Hospice Caregivers Fund" that was seeded by our successful "Season for Caring" campaign in December-January every year.

    Outreach to veterinary clinics will bring animal hospice education and support to practices in the Greater Seattle and Eastside region animal hospice. The work of our four-person Outreach Team will ultimately enable us to reach more families with AHELP Caregiver Support. 

    Other 2019-2020 goals that we will continue: 

    • We will serve more families with our Comprehensive Care Home Visits, phone consults, and referrals from our Professional Network. 
    • We will offer our monthly Support Circle, and present regularly scheduled educational sessions on end-of-life caregiving. We will continue to produce our popular Creative Healing Circles to engage head, heart, and hands while remembering an animal friend. 
    • We will restart our "Caregivers Tips and Tails" blog. We will partner with guest bloggers to bring useful information and on end-of-life caregiving. In response to public request and with permissions, we'll also tell adapted "Tails" based on our experience through our Animal Caregiver Support Program. 
    • Collaborate with writers to refine our "Quality of Life in your Senior and Ill Animal Friend," our step-by-step guide
    • Promote our Professional Network Members, trusted providers whose services contribute to comfort in illness and the end of life.

     

    Donate


  • PrizedPals Info

    Your CareCorral – A Metropolis of Social Healing among You, Your Loved Ones and Your Pet 

    It's common that furry and feathered friends are every bit part of the family as anyone else. AHELP Project proudly offers CareCorrals to our entire community through our partnership with PrizedPals.  

    Your CareCorral is quick and easy for you to create, for keeping your community close in times of heightened anxiety - as network of support and love. Your CareCorral is a secure, invitation-only web / mobile micro-community of your loved ones, surrounding your pet. After all, pets heal, age, live, die and grieve a lot like people. They have relationships worth nurturing, lives worth celebrating and stories worth re-living.

    A CareCorral makes it easy to share and engage among loved ones in a clear and instant manner - without the confusion or delays that occur when news is filtered through the grapevine. And without needing mass emails that so commonly grow cumbersome. Your circle is able to respond with supportive messages and to engage at each member’s own pace - as it is comfortable and convenient for them.  

    CareCorrals include components that help families focus time and energy on their pet, loved ones, and in supporting each other - removing emotional barriers and simplifying group connectivity. Likewise, making it easy to coordinate both requests and offers - allowing loved ones to sign-up as they like, and without putting loved ones on-the-spot. Please watch this short video to learn more about the online support!



  • Thank you for your contribution on the important topic of dedicated care for our animal family members across the lifespan, Patty Ann.

    Read more from Patty Ann Sparano on her blog, www.anothercookieplease.com.

    Would you like to share your experiences in caregiving for our animal friends? Email me or post here about being a guest blogger!

  • Thank you for reading our blog! We’d love to hear your comments and have you participate as a valued AHELP community member on our blog. What is your experience and musings on living with and loving animal friends with chronic illness, special needs, and in end-of-life?
    Please contact me for more information on how to get involved.

  • Contact AHELP

    In order to make the most of our first 30-minute phone call, please use the Family Information Form below. We can be of more assistance with your earlier contact. Thank you very much and we will contact you shortly.

    For more information, please review our Hospice FAQs. If you are unable to use the form below, please contact Michelle Nichols directly at:

      [email protected]

       (425) 223-5722

    NOTE: All information remains private and confidential.

    Submit


  • Sign up as an AHELPer

    Thank you for your interest in becoming an AHELPer! Our organization, support groups and events are located in King County/Seattle Area, WA. We welcome AHELPers from other areas that are able to help remotely. 
     
    After completing this short form, you can expect:  
     
    1. You will be emailed a link to our AHELPer Questionnaire that takes just 5-10 minutes to complete.
    2. You will be contacted by Michelle to set up a time to meet over coffee/tea, Skype, or phone.
    3. We will find you an AHELPer position that fits your preferred gift of involvement, matching your time and your interests. 
    4. Through individual training and mentorship, you will be fully prepared to join our AHELPer Team.
     
    Our goal is for you to feel rewarded, appreciated, and a highly valued member of our AHELP Community. 
     
    If you prefer to take this process stepwise, feel free to complete the form and stop there. You will be contacted by Michelle for more follow up. Thank you for your interest in becoming an AHELPer volunteer!
     
    Sign Up



  • For general questions about our Professional Network, please: 1) leave your comments on our “Contact Us” page, or 2) request a Professional Network Application form to be emailed to you through “Get involved” on the navigation bar.

    Please leave questions about an upcoming event on the Calendar page under that event’s name.

    You may also email [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in AHELP Project!

  • Animal Caregiver Support Program

    Why caregiver support?

    When the goal of care shifts from cure to comfort, tools and guidance from our AHELP Comprehensive Care Team will care for you as you care for your animal. Our “care for the caregiver” will allow you to adapt to twists and turns in the end-of-life journey. Quality of life for your dog, cat or horse is maximized as we work within the veterinary care plan with regular check-ins, tools for planning, tips for home care and strategies to help you navigate as issues come up. We ensure communication through interdisciplinary teamwork principles. Professional Network family service providers help you cope with daily challenges, assuring your confident caregiving.  Professional counselors offer your family grief and bereavement support. Your Care Team is there for you with "A Help" when you most need it with 24/7 weekday availability and on weekends, too.

    Comfort. Choices. Empowerment.

    Help your animal companion achieve COMFORT by building a solid plan with a veterinarian, or vet tech who first consults with your regular vet. AHELP's Comprehensive Care Home Visits are centered around your animal companion and your entire family's circumstances. Your AHELP Care Team will include an AHELP Care Coordinator who is a professional counselor, an AHELPer volunteer who is assigned only to you and a veterinarian best suited to your situation. You will have access our spiritual counselor through personal phone visits and our monthly Seattle Support Circle.

    Comprehensive Care Team
    "People want the same care for their animal family members as their human loved ones had. Animal hospice and palliative care gives them the power them to do so."

    AHELP_IngridFizzy.jpg Elizabeth_Bodhi_hospital_5-2015-2.jpg AHELP_2364.jpg

     

    What you can Expect

    With veterinary recommendations from your animal companion's quality of life assessment, you and your Care Team will evaluate your choices and build a plan according to your wishes. When the appropriate times come, the AHELP Care Team will support you in your decision making and assist while you enact the steps in that plan. You will feel the satisfaction that comes in knowing that you paid a worthy tribute to the life shared with your animal companion. You'll likely describe the experience of providing this care as transformative, empowering, and true to your love for them.

    Through this process of achieving comfort and quality of life, weighing your choices, visualizing your journey, and being empowered to act on your plans at the appropriate times, you will be most likely be able to follow your "path of least regrets." Healing from the inevitable loss of your animal family member comes naturally and at your own pace.