‘It brings tears to your eyes.’ Here’s how Southeastern Guide Dogs is doing during COVID-19

With a backlog of some 250 applicants waiting to be paired with their new service dogs due to the coronavirus pandemic, Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto has resumed operations, albeit with some modifications and smaller class sizes.

The journey to get to this point has been both tedious in planning for safety and emotional for all involved. A new group of seven students was set to arrive Sunday.

“We had to cancel classes in March, April and May,” said Southeastern CEO Titus Herman. “We resumed in June with extensive health protocols with daily screenings, social distancing, face coverings and most of the training is outdoors where we think it’s safer.

Herman said a lot of the training that used take place at the facilities also can be done virtually and when possible, that’s what has been taking place. Classes are also being limited to about seven clients. Thanks to Southeastern’s benefactors, those clients are provided the service dog for free.

“We haven’t been able to hold graduations like we have in the past,” Herman said. “Our next graduation is Aug. 21 and we’ll do that virtually.”

Most staff members continue to work from home and the organization’s typical small army of volunteers have been reduced from around 300 to 50. Volunteer puppy raisers have been active, though home reviews have also been suspended in lieu of online platforms.

Southeastern relies heavily on corporate partnerships and private donors in order to keep their services free. hose donors have not disappeared amid the pandemic.

Fromm Family Pet Food is ensuring that every Southeastern graduate, past and future, will have quality pet food for the entire life of the service dog. And thanks to Elanco and other donors, preventative health care and annual welfare checks also will be free.

The majority of clients at Southeasterm are low-income clients and though the value of their free service dog ranges upward of $30,000, long-term care costs can still overwhelm those on a limited budget due to their disabilities.

“It brings tears to your eyes,” said Suzy Wilburn, once a client herself and now director of graduate services and admissions. “I know, because I’m one of them who understands the benefit of that budget concern. A lot of our graduates are on a tight budget so anything out of the norm can really cause a financial downfall. So basically we are able to take care of the dogs throughout the rest of their lives, which is amazing.”

It’s just another step in the overall sense of freedom Southeastern offers its clients, “that really does open their world up and gives them a greater sense of relief and more freedom they didn’t have before,” Wilburn said. “In talking to our single-parent clients, they will be able to pay for things for their kids that otherwise would had to pay for their dog and I can’t even image what a relief that is for them.”

How the pandemic has united the blind and the seeing

The general public has more in common with those who eventually find a sense of freedom with a service dog than ever before.

Many people are experiencing an isolation due to COVID-19, but for those with disabilities prior to coming to Southeastern, isolation was a way of life.

“A lot of our clients spent months, if not years in isolation,” Herman said. “They get these extraordinary dogs and they feel alive again and they leave their homes. Even in the pandemic, they walk around their neighborhoods and make social connections. They have this experience of isolation, which doesn’t feel great, and perhaps we can all understand a little more what the students go through.”

Wilburn was diagnosed with a disease that took her vision 20 years ago and until she came to Southeastern and paired with her service dog Carson, she self isolated for years.

“It was a tough life,” she said. “So this pandemic has given every person in this country a sense of what it’s like to have a disability that makes you reclusive and the same is true for our veterans with PTSD. When you can’t get out of your house, it becomes a dark place for you and there’s not a lot of help out there.

“I never want to go back to that life, and with Carson I don’t have to. But for those who don’t have a disability and are self isolating, you’ll get to come out of it eventually.”

The new normal

Things will be a little different as a new class of seven begins their work at Southeastern. But it’s going to be an exciting day to have students staying at the facility again.

“This will be a bit of normalcy for us,” Wilburn said. “The COVID pandemic has been a part of our life, but we are going to get back to our mission at Southeastern Guide Dogs because we are privileged to serve our clients. It is a new normal for us, but we are making it work and we are matching our clients with their dogs and our dogs are getting to be what they were born to be.”

Some distance learning will continue as operations try to get back to normal, but, “We’re working hard to keep everyone healthy with a need to continue to provide vital support to people who are counting on us,” Herman said.

With the CEO of Doctors Hospital on the board of directors, Southeastern has had solid guidance in resuming operations.

“So our mission continues,” Herman said. “We have found ways to do what we do every day and are extremely fortunate we have a strong base of volunteers and are finding ways to work around the virus. Our donors continue to support us and our volunteers continue to give their time. Thanks to those people, or corporate partners and donors, the Alumni Support Program couldn’t have come at a better time and we are able to offer that lifeline to people who have been severely affected.”