About Us
Our Goal:
Transform Lives
Our Goal: Transform Lives
paws4people®️ trains and places Assistance Dogs, empowering users to transform their lives for a better tomorrow. We believe every person is deserving of priceless and well-deserved independence.
Today, many clients with “invisible disabilities” using an Assistance Dog while accessing public venues are questioned more readily than a handler whose disability is visible.
Therefore, we feel it is important for people to recognize and understand that Assistance Dogs, when employed correctly within the confines of the law, are providing invaluable services to their users.
![group of five service dogs in training vests sitting with their handlers](https://paws4people.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/group-of-service-dogs-with-handlers-p4p-2-scaled-e1677278684640-1016x1024.jpg)
Our Dogs are Our Passion
Our Team is Our Strength
Our Clients are Our Family
Our Philosophy
At paws4people®️ foundation, our philosophy is that our clients, whether children or adults, can be taught how to utilize an Assistance Dog to Control, Regulate, and Mitigate®️ the effects of their disability.
For example, with proper training over time, children can grow and mature more independently without over-dependence on adults and aids. We believe this is the very essence of independence, and one of the most important roles of any Assistance Dog.
Our Service Dog Training
How We Help
Elevate
paws4people®️ elevates service dog training standards by maintaining strict quality control for Assistance Dogs.
Support
paws4people®️ provides a customized experience to meet individual needs of each client.
Grow
paws4people®️ seeks to meet the ever-increasing demand for Service Dogs by developing more resources.
Our Founder
Kyria Henry Whisenhunt
Kyria founded paws4people in 1999. During middle school, high school, and college, Kyria worked with her certified Therapeutic Facility and Educational Facility Dogs in nursing homes, hospitals, and special education classrooms. Kyria graduated from West Virginia University summa cum laude from the Honors College with Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Religious Studies, and Speech Pathology and Audiology, with a specialization in Disability Studies.
Kyria was a 2010 Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year finalist; the winner of the 2011 IKEA Life Improvement contest; the winner of WILMA Magazine’s Women to Watch in 2014; the National Points of Light award in 2015; and the 2017 Coastal Entrepreneur Award – Non-profit in 2017. Kyria was also a finalist for the YWCA Women of Achievement in the Non-Profit category in 2021.
Why Choose Us
paws4people®️‘s service dog training program utilizes a unique set of skills, experience and resources to better serve our clients and their families.
Our Training
Specialized proprietary, comprehensive Intervention Transfer Training.
Our Team
Continuity of care between our Service Dog professionals, our staff mental health professionals, and clients’ medical treatment team.
Our Services
Placements for veterans, military dependents, first responders, and civilians as well as Professionals of human service fields.
Our Facility
Our Clients
Our Results
Recipients are able to engage with their educational, career, and family goals – to live a life they find worth living.