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13 year old sister desperately needs service dog

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My sister, Katie, has struggled with anxiety since she was born, no joke.  She has had many difficult milestones to overcome throughout her life and with so much going on she has always struggled in school (she was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago). Thankfully, she has had the most amazing psychologist since she was 6 who has helped so incredibly much, especially with the events going on now.

Our mom and her dad split when she was 6 and he never made much of an effort to build a relationship in any way. He has always struggled with alcohol and in recent years has stopped paying child support. Our mom does the best she can while also struggling with anxiety and depression but Bay Area bills are hard to pay.

Katie is 13 now and has asked to stop seeing her father because of his constant consumption of alcohol usually followed by either hours left home alone or hours of screaming matches with his girlfriend. Every weekend she stays with him is followed by a day long anxiety attack on the Monday after. This often makes her unable to go to school and on truly bad weekends her attacks will sometimes last days.  

In early December of 2019, our Mom got a text from Katie at 11:30pm saying "pick me up now". Naturally, our Mom drives over to find her outside with a bag and a stuffed animal. She explains how her dad and the girlfriend had been fighting nonstop and she was worried about her getting hurt. Katie decided to call the cops. Her father was arrested for domestic altercations and Katie hasn't seen him since. She has declared the only way she will see him is if he is sober and in therapy. He seems very unbothered and hasn't tried to meet either one of these demands.

After her father was arrested she had about a month long anxiety attack and is still emotionally recovering. Her therapist, myself, and our mom have decided it is in her best interest to get a service dog that can sense anxiety attacks coming and will know what to do when they happen. 

This will not only help her in school but will help her get out of bed in the mornings. She will have someone who loves her just as unconditionally as she loves them. Her focus will shift from spiraling depression to maintaining the life of her new friend. It will help with her social anxiety at school because people will be looking at her dog instead of her. It will guarantee that on days she still can't manage to go to school she will at least go outside and enjoy the sunshine. It will mean that when she is alone, I can be comforted in knowing that someone is always with her and protecting her. 

This dog is bought before it is born and trained from birth. It will be able to sense an anxiety attack coming, take Katie to a quiet, safe place, and will know how to handle it. The purchasing and training is extremely expensive! We will also have to purchase special harnesses and leashing in addition to the normal dog expensive. As I said before, Bay Area bills are hard to pay. 

We know she needs this. We know how life changing this will be for her. But we can't manage on our own. Please help me save my sister. Please help me make her life better. She deserves it. 

Thank you for taking time to read our story. We appreciate any help at all.
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Donations 

  • Alison Moncrieff
    • $200
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Tristyn Dowsey
Organizer
Oakland, CA
Shemra Atkinson
Beneficiary

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