About Us
OUR Story
Charity Taught me to "let Go!"
Charity was my "soul doggie" and my mission is to honor her life and continue her legacy of helping people.
When I said goodbye to my beautiful yellow Labrador retriever named Charity, I felt her loss so much. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have shared my life with her for over 13 years.
She taught me lessons in unconditional loving.
She was a daily example of living life full of pure joy. She had the gift of being right there in the present moment. She provided mentorship on how success is all about service. She was a true gift of loyal friendship.
Passion for education and animals.
Being a teacher is part of who I am. As a small child my little sister was my student and I just loved to write on my blackboard and teach her. I have loved dogs my whole life. I asked Santa to bring me a dog every Christmas. My parents always wrote a letter back saying, "it was too cold in the sleigh" or "there were no dogs available this year". I finally got my first dog when I was ten years old. Happiest day of my life.
Meet
Lori Johnson
My purpose is to support people of all ages experiencing grief. My love of animals and my own grief journey has inspired me to merge the two together. And of course the inspiration of Charity's love. Being an educator has given me the opportunity to "really see people." We can "Smile Again" together.
I have spent over 40 years in education.
I have had experience working in the elementary and secondary panel and continue to teach at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario. I am an author and have written a book about my story with the most profound grief. To combine my passion for education, animals and my deep desire to support women and families experiencing a pregnancy loss or infant death is a gift I am deeply devoted to.
Understanding the Gift of an Animal During Grief
We often express our grief when we lose our beloved furry family members. What we sometimes overlook is our beloved furry family members contribution to supporting us when we grieve losses. To acknowledge this and be intentional with it can be an eye opening wonderful gift.
Client Testimonials
This story is for anyone who has either experienced, or has been connected to someone, who has suffered the tragic loss of a child.
Reading this was very hard, taking me back to the tragic day and events that unfolded after, yet at the same time its well written words offered a sense of healing and peace. Everyone grieves in different ways, and some don’t grieve at all, and this story encourages the hard but healing side of grief. Doing the hard work of moving through your grief is so important to do, even when it seems an impossible task. Grieving is a journey of letting go and many feel they don’t know how to. It is this act of letting go that enables the soul to heal and carry on which is so beautifully expressed here.
The love and strength I felt while reading this heartfelt story will hopefully help others to grieve, let go, and find peace.
Nancy Stewart - My Sister
Creating connections that can serve a community for a lifetime.
Kate Turner - Executive Coach
“Lori was the missing piece in our journey to finding a suitable dog for our family. We have a child who has Childhood Apraxia of Speech and faces challenges daily with connecting to the world around him. Though our son can understand others, he has difficulty creating speech so is often misunderstood."
"Lori helped guide us and made it clear that a human- animal connection could provide him with the connection he longed for, without requiring something of him (articulation) that he is not able to do. She provided the information, experiences and support necessary to realize what it was we needed in a dog for our family. She considered our family, each of our needs, and connected us to the appropriate breeder and trainer, and checked in along to way offering words of support."
"Lori is passionate about what she does, and it shows through her work. It is clear she has witnessed, firsthand, the value of dogs in families who have been faced with extra obstacles. She is confident and professional while remaining unbiased and non-judgmental. We can not thank her enough for what she has done for our child, our family, and the many others she has helped connect to dogs and the world around them.“
Alex McDonald - Mother
Tiffany is currently training her dog Diago to be a therapy dog to work in her school. She is full of passion and loves all that she does to support her students.
Tiffany Schevchik - MA, CCLS Animal Assisted Interventions Coordinator The Calais School
