Hello from Downeast Maine!

My name is Maureen Army, and I am on the journey to receive a service dog from Little Angels Service Dogs.

My story includes surviving a kidnapping and assault at 16, a fatal car accident at 24, and two bouts of breast cancer at 40 and most recently at 57. The most recent cancer led to a double mastectomy and a battle with MRSA with an open wound for 10 months.

Since I was a young girl, I struggled with chronic depression, and at 16, severe PTSD. I relied on my schooling and sports in high school to help me survive. In undergraduate and graduate school, I continued to struggle with friendships and social situations. At 41, I went on disability from a great job following my divorce and custody battle, and first cancer treatments that inflamed my PTSD to its worst level. These are all events too big to describe here and often too big to separate my symptoms from them.

I love my job and am quite focused when teaching. I also love movies and books and traveling, and photography. I’ve found several ways to stay grounded and have recently had some astonishing healing moments that move my fear away a bit. Lots of therapy, too.

That being said, over 40 years of battling PTSD moment to moment creates an internal life that is unpredictably challenging. I live in a community where I cannot have a pet dog right now. The lack of that feeling of security and companionship has increased my anxiety, fear, and uncertainty in the world.

Despite my life experiences, I chose to work in a field where I help people. I am an orientation & mobility specialist and a low-vision therapist of over 35 years. This is a career few people know exists...I’m the cane lady...the person who teaches folks who are blind or visually impaired to travel with the long white cane and stay oriented as they do so. My job often prepares my younger students to pursue training with a dog guide if they choose that route. In my career, I have worked as a backup observer/troubleshooter with a dog guide team and as a distant trainer to be the “eyes on” for any problems. I have also worked with many veterans who have PTSD, and their service dogs are amazing partners. So, I know service dogs, what they should be, and what the best programs look and act like.

Little Angels Service Dogs is my best hope today, and in the future, to gain even more stability and joy in my life. I know the benefit of a true service dog. I know, as a woman who has struggled and survived, that thriving is what is next...and a service dog will help me attain that level of life.

I am fundraising for Little Angels Service Dogs to help them continue training and placing dogs with individuals like me. Please consider donating to help them change lives.

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Little Angels Service Dogs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an Assistance Dogs International (ADI) accreditation. We provide highly trained assistance dogs to help children and adults living with disabilities to live more independent lives. Our mission is to maximize the innate ability of dogs to give the gift of independence to individuals regardless of disability or age.

Our primary purpose is to change the lives of people living with disabilities by helping them live a more independent life. Approximately 13% of Americans are living with disabilities, and less than 1% of that community use service dogs due to a mix of availability, costs, and barriers for service animals that still exist today. Our goal is to overcome those barriers for people living with disabilities to appropriately match service dogs with their recipients.

We train our service dogs to perform specific tasks and behaviors that mitigate the effects of a person's disability, enabling them to lead more autonomous and fulfilling lives. Results of various studies on the impact service dogs have on their owners living with disabilities have indicated that service dog ownership may include benefits like greater social and emotional health, independence, and overall quality of life.

Our service dogs include psychiatric (civilian and military), seizure alert, diabetic alert, hearing assistance, mobility assistance, and autism assistance. We firmly believe that all disabilities should be regarded with equal importance, irrespective of their visibility. Our team acknowledges our responsibility not only to our service dogs but also to the individuals we serve.

Maureen's Story

Fundraising for Little Angels Service Dogs by Maureen Army