SearchCareCredit Grant to Help Shelter to Soldier Provide Service Dog for Military Veteran
Costa Mesa, CA – January 9, 2020 – CareCredit, a Synchrony solution, provided a $15,000 grant to the San Diego-based Shelter to Soldier to underwrite the cost to adopt, house, care for, train and place a shelter dog with a post-9/11 combat veteran. As part of the Shelter to Soldier’s service dog training program, the sponsored service rescue dog will serve the critical role of psychological support to his/her veteran handler.
“We’re committed to helping those who have made sacrifices for our nation,” said Cindy Hearn, Vice President, CareCredit Branding & Communications. “The Shelter to Soldier program is designed to help alleviate the post-combat symptoms that veterans may endure while providing a purpose and home for a shelter dog.”*
Shelter to Soldier adopts dogs from local shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-9/11 combat veterans. Yvonne Dietrich and Alan Nave who co-lead the Veterans Network+ at Synchrony’s Costa Mesa site presented the donation to Graham Bloem, Co-Founder, President and Training Director of Shelter to Soldier. Also in attendance were Chaplin Captain Matthew Nelson, the Color Guard from the Newport Legion Post 291, members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Band and more than 100 employees from Synchrony’s Veterans Network+. The Veterans Network+ core mission is to attract veterans and family members to Synchrony and facilitate their growth and retention through professional and personal development, career management, mentoring and networking.
*Every day on average, 16 U.S. veterans commit suicide (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs). More than 500,000 servicemen and women are living with invisible wounds, from depression to post-traumatic stress disorder and 320,000 are experiencing debilitating brain trauma (Wounded Warrior Project). Each year, America sees approximately 3.3 million dogs enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide and 670,000 dogs are euthanized (ASPCA).
About Shelter to Soldier
Shelter to Soldier is a CA 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that adopts dogs from local shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-9/11 combat veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or other injuries associated with traumatic service experiences. Founder and Training Director of Specialty Dog Training and Shelter to Soldier, Graham Bloem, has been training dogs professionally for nearly two decades. He has a true understanding of dog behavior and is passionate about animal rescue and giving back to the men and women in uniform who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms. Graham is the proud recipient of the 10News Leadership Award, Red Cross Real Heroes Award, Honeywell Life Safety Award, CBS8 News Change It Up Award and the 2016 Waggy Award for animal welfare. Shelter to Soldier is a gold participant of GuideStar and accredited by the Patriot’s Initiative. Learn more about the Shelter to Solder organization at www.sheltertosoldier.org.
About CareCredit
CareCredit, a Synchrony solution, is a leading provider of promotional financing to consumers for health, veterinary and personal care procedures, services and products. For more than 30 years, CareCredit has helped millions of people by offering special financing options with convenient monthly payments. CareCredit is accepted at more than 230,000 locations for a wide variety of health and wellness procedures, treatments, products and services. More information can be found at carecredit.com.
About Synchrony
Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company delivering customized financing programs across key industries including retail, health, auto, travel and home, along with award-winning consumer banking products. With more than $140 billion in sales financed and 80.3 million active accounts, Synchrony brings deep industry expertise, actionable data insights, innovative solutions and differentiated digital experiences to improve the success of every business we serve and the quality of each life we touch. More information can be found at www.synchrony.com and through Twitter: @Synchrony.