For the first time, dogs taught me how to commit to daily responsibilities for another life. The amount of care, compassion, and tolerance it took gave me a new appreciation for dogs needing a loving home. The dogs I got to train began to teach me how to love deeply, without verbal communication. I had to learn to understand their wants and needs, which, in turn, made it that much easier for me to communicate with the harsh environment to which I had been subjected.

 Working at Project POOCH during my tenure at OYA was restorative. The bonus was having a place that employed me and made me feel important and more significant than the constraints of incarceration.