Information on the program:
This organization was founded in 2014 in Buffalo NY to provide service dogs to veterans who return home with life-altering disabilities. Our mission is to restore quality of life to those who gave so much to our country and freedom while sustaining their dignity at the same time. Each dog in our program completes an extensive 10–16-month training process and is paired with an approved veteran who has service-connected disabilities: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), suicidal tendencies, Military Sexual Trauma (MST), etc.
SARAH HILLYARD -CSRA FOR
After graduating high school, Sara Hillyard completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, followed by advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where she was trained as a chemical operations specialist. Her military service included assignments at Fort Bliss, Texas, with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery, and at Fort Hood, Texas, with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. In 2010, she deployed to Contingency Operating Station Kalsu in Iraq as part of Operation New Dawn. Hillyard holds an associate degree in human services from Jamestown Community College and a bachelor’s degree in human services from Empire State College. While stationed at Fort Hood, she participated in the installation’s boxing tournament program with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. After her military service, Hillyard relocated to Evans, Georgia, with her husband, Jaryd, and their two sons, Landon and Isaiah. Previously, she led the PFC Dwyer Program in Western New York and worked as a peer specialist, where she supported fellow veterans. Inspired by her own experiences, Hillyard launched the Pawsitive for Heroes program in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), aiming to give back to the initiative that profoundly impacted her life.
