Emergency Response Volunteer Profile: Janet Velenovsky
Janet Velenovsky is an active member of Virginia-based Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). It is a group of voluntary and non-governmental agencies that collaborate during responses to disaster. VOAD is designed to bring together voluntary religious and civic organizations that function in times of natural or man-made emergencies in Virginia in order to foster more effective response for people affected by disaster.
National VOAD member organizations are made up of a diverse group of organizations that provide a wide range of skills and service to their respective communities. All organizations have service-oriented missions and include volunteer engagement as a key component of their operations. State/Territory VOAD members represent many local and regional VOADs, and hundreds of additional local organizations. These volunteers are dedicated to total community engagement and recognize that the VOAD movement values and practices represent a proven way to build resilient communities. This combination of faith-based, community-based, nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) utilize their diverse skills and talents to encourage and foster service to those in need.
Janet Velenovsky is the owner of Kaizen Pet Training & Behavior, and Eastern U.S. Regional Director of HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response, a VOAD partner.
HOPE’s mission is to provide comfort and encouragement through animal-assisted support to individuals affected by crises and disaster. Velenovsky points out that the agency supports any individual affected, whether that is a first-responder, member of the community, a relief worker deployed to the area, public safety telecommunicator or what one might consider a “victim” of the situation. “We try to avoid the word ‘victim’ because no one really wants to label themselves that way,” Velenovsky says.
HOPE does not self-deploy, rather, they work with official agencies to coordinate use of their services. “We would never want to become an additional burden on the community or those responding, but rather support and collaborate,” Velenovsky says.
The staff at HOPE learns and uses Incident Command System/National Incident Management System (ICS/NIMS) to enable them to integrate with other agencies. There is no charge for the service.
PSC: How did you first got involved in with HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response?
Velenovsky: I started in local therapy work with my first adult dog, Kaizen, more than a dozen years ago. After making visits to nursing homes and hospitals for a couple of years, Kai and I were ready for a new challenge. A colleague in our local therapy dog group had recently made a trip to comfort people who lost family members and friends in the Twin Towers on 9/11. The stories she shared and the importance of the work she and her dog had done made a big impact on me. I learned more about HOPE’s mission and decided Kaizen and I would work toward crisis response certification.
PSC: What’s your first memorable experience with HOPE?
Velenovsky: The training involved to become certified with HOPE was significant. We spent three intense days in a workshop where we learned both from lectures and hands-on experiences. From that long weekend, I learned the differences between what we had been doing locally, and what crisis response work would involve. And, I became very motivated to prepare Kai and myself to excel at this work.
After the training, the newly certified teams tried to wait patiently for our first call-out. While we didn’t want to see any disasters happen, we were eager to be of help if/when they did. When Hurricane Katrina arrived, we were eager to receive an assignment. It took a while to make connections and receive an invitation to be of service, but we did. Our visits in December of that year were emotional but very rewarding. I knew I had found a way to share my love of animals and my concern for those in crisis.
PSC: What has surprised you most about working with HOPE?
Velenovsky: Our dogs constantly surprise me. My professional work is behavior consulting and training for pets, so I know how amazing animals are and how much people love interacting with them. But when we share our canine partners with those experiencing disastrous situations, the dogs exhibit qualities of gentleness, compassion, empathy and awareness that never ceases to impress me. They are truly special creatures.
PSC: What do you find most challenging about your work?
Velenovsky: The strangest thing about our work is that we do not wish to see any crisis or disaster happen. Ever. But, despite our wishes, they continually do. I am sure emergency telecommunicators know the rush of adrenaline that comes with the opportunity to help in a crisis. For some of us, that feeling is odd at first, but we come to accept it.
Our other challenge is to help people understand what we do. Many folks ask if our dogs are up for adoption (sorry, no), if they are lost or stray dogs (again, no), or if they are sniffing for explosives or drugs (not at all!). Some people see the vests our dogs wear and think they cannot pet them because they are working. We invite everyone to interact if they wish. We fervently hope that one day the general public will understand the differences between service animals, therapy animals and crisis response dogs.
PSC: What do you wish other people knew about your organization?
Velenovsky: One of our goals in HOPE is to educate the public about the unique qualities of animal-assisted crisis response versus therapy dog visits. Therapy dog work, called animal-assisted activities or animal-assisted therapy, typically involves a visit of 60 to 90 minutes at an established facility local to the dog and handler. At the facility, staff supports the patients or clients, and the dog and handler know what to expect from the visit. Following the visit, the dog returns to his/her home and regular schedule. By contrast, crisis response dogs often travel long distances to arrive at a new site where unusual sights, sounds and strong emotions are expected. The dogs and handlers may work up to five or six hours a day (with frequent and essential rest periods), may be away from their homes for several days in a row, and must be prepared for the unexpected.
HOPE AACR believes in setting our members up for success, so we require applicant teams have a year’s worth of experience in therapy work before they can be evaluated for crisis certification. That foundation is necessary as a basis to prepare dogs and handlers for the more challenging work of crisis response. While it is understandable that people use the term “therapy dog” to mean any dog that brings smiles to those they visit, we hope the public can begin to differentiate between therapy and crisis dogs. And, to understand why a therapy dog without additional training and certification is being set up to fail if they are brought in to a situation they are not prepared for. Dog and handlers can suffer significant stress and can make mistakes without the proper training. Similarly, teams showing up at a crisis situation without an invitation are potentially creating additional problems for first responders and emergency managers to deal with. We work carefully to be sure we do not add to the workload and responsibilities of those managing a crisis scene.
PSC: Who (or what) influenced your decision to work with this organization?
Velenovsky: The members of HOPE, and especially the other regional directors and the board of directors for the organization motivate me on a regular basis. Seeing the hours they volunteer, the care they give and the incredible variety of talents our members bring to the organization, I am re-energized on a regular basis. And the wonderful, loving, funny, goofy, beautiful and well-behaved dogs we get to see providing comfort—that is a major motivation, too.
PSC: What do you think will change about HOPE over the next five years?
Velenovsky: HOPE AACR has a strategic plan to recruit and train new teams throughout the U.S. We currently have about 140 members in 23 states; we are likely to increase membership by 75% and move into an additional 10 to 15 states within five years. These increases will make it possible for HOPE AACR to respond to more invitations to provide support to individuals affected by crises and disaster.
To learn more about VOAD and how your agency can get involved, visit vavoad.communityos.org
For more information about HOPE AACR, visit www.hopeaacr.org or facebook.com/HopeAACR
by Lt. Andrea Gaines, Fluvanna County (Va.) Sheriff’s Dept., APCO Editorial Committee