Support Our Clients
NEADS clients pledge to support the organization by raising $8,000 to help sustain our programs. You can join the thousands of people who have donated in order to help our clients meet their fundraising goals. Read the clients' stories here, then make your donation to NEADS.
- All Clients
- Assistance Dog
- Service Dog
- Service Dog for a Child
- Service Dog for Hearing
Allie Vega
Hi my name is Alexzandra Vega. People often knows me as Allie. I am a deaf mom of two beautiful children ages 6 and 2. I am also a full time student and a Relief worker helping individuals with developmental disabilities.
Ann Creilson
Hi! I’m Ann Creilson and as an elementary school adjustment counselor, I am always thinking about ways I can support the emotional and social well-being of my students…
Ary
I’ve lived in Massachusetts for over 20 years. For the past 10 years, I’ve suffered a loss of a vertebrate which required spinal fusion. With the addition of multiple vertebrates’…
Babs Spake
Life is like a Rollercoaster, one of the craziest rides you will ever take. Life picks you up, drops you down, flips you upside down, and definitely spins you around…
Barbara Papa-Zinko
My name is Barbara Papa-Zinko. I was involved in a severe car accident 19 years ago that caused a significant lower back injury….Surgery was my only option if I was…
Beth Johnson
This Dog is Coming to School! For years, first as a teacher and now as an administrator, I have been thinking about what a difference a dog would make for…
Caroline Thom
My name is Caroline Thom, and I’ve been teaching third grade at Bishop School for 27 years. It is with great anticipation that our school will soon welcome an assistance…
Christine Brouillard
At Mill Pond School, we have seen – and felt – the positive impact a dog can make in the day and life of a child. Through occasional visits with…
Danielle Lambert
Hello! My name is Danielle and I am a school counselor at a collaborative in Andover. I work with elementary to middle school students with a variety of disorders from…
Dee Genetti
Hi. My name is Dee and I am a psychologist, a paraplegic, and a wheelchair user from a car crash many years ago, and I am legally blind. I have…
Deirdre Meagher
It is the time! I am ready to take the next step towards overcoming my difference! But I know I’m not ready to do it all on my own. My…
Diane Bertolino
Hi, my name is Diane Bertolino and I live in Natick, Ma. I grew up loving and playing all sports and was always very active until 19 years ago when…
Dianna Landers
My name is Dianna. Due to being born three months premature, I have dealt with hearing loss all my life. I was fitted with hearing aids at a young age…
Emma Faye Rudkin
Emma Faye is getting a hearing dog! This dog will help navigate Emma Faye’s everyday tasks and traveling as a deaf individual. She is excited to add into this beautiful…
Gary Grimes
Hi! My name is Gary Grimes and I am a Chaplain working on a hospice team in the western Massachusetts area. We work with patients who have been diagnosed with…
Holeigh Morin
At Centerville Elementary all of the staff take great pride in the love we have for each and every unique student who walks through our door. Recently, we have shifted…
Jennie Williams & Danny
Danny is a classroom dog who works every day at a therapeutic day school in Southeastern Massachusetts. Danny initially came to the school to offer support to students in Kindergarten through grade 8.
Jennifer Thompson
I have dealt with chronic illness and I have also gone through the criminal justice system myself. I know firsthand what a NEADS dog can provide to those experiencing difficulties engaging with formal systems.
Joanna Lubkin
Caring for and supporting others have always been core values of mine. And I live with several disabilities and chronic illness that can get in the way of me contributing all I…
John Stuhl & DJ
DJ Has changed my life, made the mundane fun and every challenge we conquer taste even sweeter!!
Kate Weaver
Hi, I’m Kate. I have steadily been losing my hearing over the last 8 years. I had meningitis at 13 months old and while I survived the illness, I lost…
Kathleen Smith
My name is Kathleen Smith and I live in Oxford, MA I have been an amputee since I was 11 years old from bone cancer. I always walked with an artificial limb and I was always very active I even climbed trees in my younger years.
Katrina Parker
Hey there! I see you have found my page! Now, you’re a little curious aren’t you? Wouldn’t you like to know why you’re here? No worries. I do not mind…
Kevin Fenlon
My name is Kevin Fenlon, I am the Assistant Director of Counseling Services at Worcester State University. For the past 13 years, I have been working with college students to…
Laurie Aronson
My name is Laurie Aronson, and I have been trying for years to get a service dog. I have limited mobility due to MS–and if that weren’t enough, I am…
Leanna Fergerson
Hello! My name is Leanna Alexis Fergerson. I am 11 years old and live in Charlotte, NC. I am a fun loving little girl, with a great sense of humor.…
Lenore Lupie
Hey there. I’m Lenore and that’s Mo, my family dog. I am striving to get back my independence. To that end, I’m moving into my own adapted apartment. I will be living alone for the first time since I became a quad 4 years ago.
Lindsay Curtius & Star
My name is Lindsay Curtius. I am an Education Specialist at San Diego Cooperative Charter School 2. In July 2016, I had the opportunity to fly from California to the NEADS campus in Massachusetts to meet and train with Star, SDCCS’ Assistance Dog for the Classroom…
Marjorie Hintalla
My name is Marjorie Hintalla but most people call me Margie. I was diagnosed with hearing loss as a toddler. I came in to the world 2 weeks late and…
Mary Bird
Hello, my name is Mary Bird. I am a Deaf person who uses American Sign Language, a mother to 2 boys. Larkin (20) a Geography/Sustainable Energy major student at Salem State University, and Logan (soon to be 16), a Freshman at Bristol County Agricultural High School.
Melissa Doudna
Hello, my name is Melissa Doudna and I currently live in Fruita, CO with my fiance and two geriatric black labs. Some basic information about me is was born and…
Melissa Moore
During a routine hearing screening in my first grade at school it was found that I was born with nerve deafness and was hearing impaired. This was quite a discovery…
Moriah Williams
My name is Moriah Williams, I’m 30 years old and I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. When I was born I was 2 pound, at that they also…
Naomi Ridge
My name is Naomi Ridge, and I live with my husband and two sons (ages 11 and 13) in Watertown, Massachusetts. Since the fall of 2015 I have been losing mobility due to Multiple Sclerosis, and now use a wheelchair to get around outside of my home.
Nissa Thornton
As a peer counselor within the Massachusetts Department of Correction, I have been accepted into the NEADS program and a currently waiting to be matched with an Assistance Dog who…
Patricia Gomez
Hola everyone, my name is Patricia Gomez. I am a polio survivor. I am losing my strength, have physical fatigue, intense pain, and tiredness. This will continue to progress which…
Patrick Cogan
Hello!! My name is Patrick Cogan, and, thanks to NEADS, I will be getting a service dog to help me with every day tasks! I have a rare neuromuscular disease…
Peter Hayes
Hi! My name is Peter Hayes and I’m a deaf/ hard of hearing man. I need a Service Dog to help me in my daily life and to help me…
Rebekah Lloyd
Hello my name is Rebekah Lloyd and I have been a client with NEADS for 7 years, and just retired my first service dog named Brent. Brent was one of…
Rivka Schmidt
Hi everyone. I am an 11 year old girl, who has had serve muscle cramps and muscle weakness in my lower legs due to a genetic disorder. I started with…
Sharyn Ryan
My name is Sharyn Ryan, I am both physically and emotionally challenged, and find great difficulty addressing life’s every day tasks. As a mother of four grown children , I…
Sonya Daniel
Sonya Daniel is a musician/teacher, writer, and voice over artist. She lives with her family in Arkansas. Hard of hearing her whole life, her side hustle is being a vocal…
Stacy Pokora
Hello, my name is Stacy Pokora and I am a special education teacher in North Providence, RI. My goal is to raise funds for NEADS. I am currently on the…
Starr Fund
All donations to the Starr Fund go toward helping clients who are Deaf, or have hearing loss, reach their fundraising goals. To date, over $17,000 has been raised for clients through the Starr Fund.
Theresa Lane
I’m so excited our school has been approved for a NEADS assistance dog. We have been fortunate at Nauset Regional Middle School to have had a therapy dog in our…
Tia Maxson & Millie
My name is Tia Maxson. I cannot begin to tell you how much Millie, my Service Dog for hearing, has made a positive impact on my life. Millie has enriched my life in ways beyond what I could have ever imagined.
Tracey Williams & Cuba
My name is Tracey Williams and I’m an Intensive Special Education Teacher for Boston Public Schools. Several years ago I had three therapy dogs participate in a summer program for students with autism.
Tyler Hooton
My name is Tyler Hooton, some fun facts about me, I’m Deaf, I wear a cochlear implant on the right side and a hearing aid on the left. I love…
Tyler Konvent & Baxter
Hey! My name is Tyler and I have Spina Bifida, which has had me wheelchair bound my entire life. Don’t think for a second I’ve let that slow me down, though. I’m an avid sled hockey player, and use my personal experience and disability to help children
Yadira Rivera Martinez
My name is Yadira. I started developing hearing loss throughout my early adulthood. I remember my father noticed that I would constantly turn on the subtitles whenever we would watch…
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