OAE in the News

Benson’s celebrates success of pet adoption campaign

10/24/2022

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Operation at Ease is celebrating the success of September’s Service Dog Awareness Month and their “Paw Print” campaign. All the Bensons Pet Stores in New York and Massachusetts sold colored paw prints for $2 each during the month of September.

Customers who purchased the paw prints wrote messages on them that were displayed all over the stores. Today at Benson’s in Rotterdam, there was a check presentation after the community stepped up to raise over $10,000. Jessica Padula, Events and Media Coordinator, shared her thoughts on the success of the event: “People have pets, love them and know how impactful it is for their mental health, so they are happy to give”.

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‘Pig Bowl’ in Schenectady to raise funds for mental health programs for first responders

10/24/2022

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By Indiana Nash | October 20, 2022

Scenes from the 2021 'Pig Bowl' at Union College. Upper Right: Schenectady resident Ariana Mohammed tosses the coin at last year's Pig Bowl, which raised money for her cancer treatments.

SCHENECTADY — The Pig Bowl has always brought officers together, with the Schenectady Police Department squaring off against the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Department.
This year, the game will be a chance to not only compete but also to raise awareness of the mental health struggles that first responders experience.
The event starts at 6 p.m. and the game starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Union College’s Frank Bailey Field.
It’ll also raise funds for Operation At Ease, a Rotterdam-based nonprofit that works with veterans and fire responders, pairing them with rescue dogs and providing a free guided training program for post-traumatic stress and light mobility service dogs. Funds raised from the game will go toward OAE programs that’ll help first responders with post-traumatic stress, secondary trauma and other mental health issues they might face.
When the Pig Bowl tradition started several decades ago, it was a backyard football game meant to build morale between the departments. But when the tradition started to fade, Schenectady Officer Jonathan Govel and corrections Officer Jason Pollard came together to bring it back and raise money for the community while they were at it. Last year, the Pig Bowl raised funds for Ariana Mohammed, a Schenectady teen battling cancer.
The impetus behind this year’s cause stemmed from tragedies both departments have faced, including one that happened just about a year ago. During the Pig Bowl’s halftime in 2021, players on the Schenectady Police Department team received news that one of their colleagues had died by suicide. Two years prior, a member of the Sheriff’s Department had also died by suicide.

Law enforcement officers and firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. EMS providers are 1.39 times more likely to die by suicide than the public.
So far in 2022, 135 law enforcement members in the U.S. have died by suicide according to Blue H.E.L.P., a nonprofit organization that aims to reduce mental health stigma and acknowledge the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers lost to suicide. In 2021, there were 187 and except for a spike in 2019, the rate has remained consistent since the organization started tracking the data in 2016.
“Through your lifetime, you may have a few traumatic experiences, experiences that really shaped your life,” Govel said. “We go to work every day and that’s just what we do. Most of the time we get called, it’s not for a good thing. You’re dealing with people that don’t like you, that don’t want you to be there. You’re dealing with unsafe conditions … Your head’s always on a swivel because, especially in a busy city, you have to be observing your surroundings and alert at all times and it affects you.”
Govel and Pollard met with OAE founder Joni Bonilla earlier this year when they were considering OAE as a recipient. They spoke with her about some of the challenges law enforcement and first responders face and after that meeting, Bonilla decided to change OAE’s first responder programs.
OAE has offered service dog training for first responders for the last few years, however, relatively few had utilized the program.
“I thought, what else can we do to better support them because the service dog program isn’t supporting them,” Bonilla said.
In the coming year, OAE will hold drop-in dog training classes specifically for first responders.
“They can come with dogs that they already have in the home. There’s no doctor’s note involved,” Bonilla said.

The organization is gathering a team of volunteer social workers and licensed mental health counselors to provide free telehealth therapy in the coming year. First responders will be able to request therapy via OAE’s website and a licensed mental health counselor will pair them with a therapist.
OAE’s therapy dogs will also be available to go to first responder units and to veterans’ organizations.
Beyond raising funds to support OAE, organizers also hope the Pig Bowl raises awareness of what first responders go through. According to the CDC, many first responders feel like they can’t or shouldn’t talk about the trauma they experience on the job and perceived stigmas may stop them from reporting suicidal thoughts.
“There’s nothing normalized about the everyday struggles of first responders,” Bonilla said.
Govel has been working with his team and going through plays over the last few weeks. He won’t be able to play because of recent surgery, however, he’ll be there coaching and cheering the team on.
“I will say I’m pretty sure we’re undefeated. They never beat us,” Govel noted. He’s hoping to keep that streak, though Pollard and his team may give them a run for their money.
“We’re so grateful for Union College to let us play on the field because that makes a big difference,” said Dan DeMarco, who is helping to organize the event.
They’re hoping for a turnout of 400 to 500 people. Tickets are $5.
“It’s a good time to come out and support the local law enforcement in the community and for a greater cause than just the police departments. [There’s] the mental health [aspect] and how Joni rescues dogs. I don’t think there’s anything better than rescuing dogs and helping out with the mental health of your local law enforcement,” Govel said.
For more information visit operationatease.org

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Motorcyclists ride for PTSD from Albany to Ballston Spa

8/24/2022

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https://www.news10.com/news/motorcyclists-ride-for-ptsd-from-albany-to-ballston-spa/

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Motorcyclists from across the Capital Region rode their bikes in support of Operation at Ease on Saturday. The Capital Region-based organization pairs rescued dogs from shelters with veterans and first responders. Some dogs are trained to help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and mobility.
“The reason we started it is because there were no resources available for veterans or first responders to get the service dogs they needed,” Joni Bonilla, Founder of Operation at Ease, said.
Bonilla said she wants to use her platform and the work Operation at Ease does to raise awareness on the stigma PTSD and mental health carries.
“Just normalizing mental health, normalizing not being okay after something bad happens, mainstreaming the idea that you’re not permanently broken,” Bonilla said.
Adirondack Corvettes raises money for Operation at Ease and other charities through their car shows and events, a cause one member said is crucial to bringing more people together.
“We’ve been blessed to have these beautiful cars and we are having a great time with each other, and it feels good to give back to something especially local,” Kris Riddervold, Member of Adirondack Corvettes, said.

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Operation At Ease PTS Awareness Ride lobbying to drop ‘D’ from ‘PTSD’

8/24/2022

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By Andrew Waite | August 18, 2022 https://dailygazette.com/2022/08/18/awareness-ride-lobbying-to-drop-d-from-ptsd/

SCHENECTADY -– Jon Fox was 850 feet in the air when his parachute malfunctioned during a 2013 training jump at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The infantryman in the U.S. Army fell backward onto a downward slope that bore enough of the brunt of the fall to save his life. Years later Fox would learn he’d suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, vertebrae and spine damage, as well as a fractured right hip. But when Fox landed, he was in such severe shock that he crawled away from the drop zone without realizing anything was wrong. To this day, he experiences night terrors and flashbacks that return him to the moments of crawling away. Fox, now 38 and living in Hoosick with his wife and 2-year-old daughter, has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, but there is part of him that wishes it wasn’t referred to as a disorder. “If you were to say, ‘Hey, I have post traumatic stress,’ that doesn’t sound so bad. When you say ‘I have a disorder,’ it’s like there is something wrong with me. And that’s really unfair to say someone has a disorder. It’s kind of like re-victimizing someone,” Fox said. Fox is part of a chorus of local veterans and veterans organizations that are lobbying to drop the “D” from PTSD. In fact, dropping the D is the rallying cry of Operation At Ease’s 4th-annual Post Traumatic Stress Awareness Ride, which will feature roughly 200 motorcyclists traveling from Spitzie’s Harley-Davidson of Albany to the Nanola restaurant in Malta on Saturday. “Our whole purpose of this ride is to mainstream the idea that posttraumatic stress is not a disorder,” said Joni Bonilla, Operation At Ease’s founder. “It’s normally called PTSD, and for this ride we dropped the D. A disorder implies that something medically unnatural is happening to your brain, when posttraumatic stress is the brain’s normal, healthy and natural reaction to trauma,” said Joni Bonilla, Operation At Ease’s founder. Registration for the event, which is using the hashtag #itsnotadisorder, begins at 10 a.m., and the cost is $20 per rider and $10 per passenger. The ride is a fundraiser for Operation At Ease, which pairs dogs from shelters with veterans and first responders and provides a free guided training program for posttraumatic stress and light mobility service dogs. “We just figured there is no better way to make a lot of noise than ride a couple hundred bikes through town,” Bonilla said of Saturday’s event, which will also feature live music, vendors and raffles. The Riser Motorcycle Association, based in Westerlo, is helping to put on the event. Michael Hicks plans to attend the ride in his role as co-founder of #HicksStrong, which connects veterans and active duty service members to mental health professionals and covers the cost of up to 24 therapy sessions. The Clifton Park-based nonprofit, which has helped connect 188 service members in 44 states to 1,350 therapy sessions, came to be after the Hicks family got a call every parent dreads. Macoy Austin Daniel Hicks, a “ball of fire with a ton of energy,” served in the U.S. Navy from February 2017 to February 11, 2019, according to Michael Hicks, Macoy’s father. Stationed in Washington, D.C. as a rifleman in the Ceremonial Guardsman, Macoy was involved in the services of up to eight funerals a day. Those grim duties took their toll on Macoy’s mental health, and his struggles continued when he was assigned to the USS Nimitz in Bremerton, Wash, Hicks said. After seeking help and not getting it, Macoy took his own life at age 20, Hicks said. Hicks said he supports any action that can remove the stigma around people seeking mental health services. “The stigma that the ‘disorder’ word adds, it can give an individual a feeling that they will never be able to get through their posttraumatic stress,” Hicks said. “The reality is we can work through it, we can adapt and cope with the posttraumatic stress. Dropping the D can, in essence, give hope to the individual that is struggling with it.” The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs believes PTSD should continue to be considered a disorder. “PTSD is comparable to other conditions in the (American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual) that also use the term ‘disorder,’ such as Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” said a VA spokesperson. “PTSD is more than just ‘stress,’ and the term ‘posttraumatic stress’ has no clear scientific or diagnostic meaning.” The spokesperson rejected the idea that dropping the word disorder will encourage people to seek treatment. “Some have suggested that using the term ‘post traumatic stress’ and avoiding the word ‘disorder’ would make veterans more comfortable with the diagnosis and with seeking treatment. There is no evidence that this is the case, and it is not likely given the more general stigma about seeking treatment for mental health problems in veterans and non-veterans,” according to the spokesperson. “It is even possible that not using the word disorder would lead to a failure to recognize the seriousness of PTSD and its impact on those who are affected.” But veterans like Fox disagree. Fox was connected with Operation At Ease in 2019 after his wife, a licensed mental health counselor, found the Schenectady-based program. At the time, Fox was rejecting a lot of the programs and services being offered, and he felt guilty about collecting military retirement after serving only 3.5 years. At the time of his parachute accident, he was mere months from deployment. But in Operation At Ease, Fox found a service he was willing to embrace. Bonilla – a professional dog trainer and military spouse – started Operation At Ease in 2015 to help a friend and four-time combat veteran who was struggling with the loss of his pet dog. Through the program, Fox was given Gunner, a 60-pound mix, and Fox now considers the dog his “battle buddy,” which is a concept he learned in the Army that has to do with having a regular partner who can empathize with the struggles of service. Now, when Fox is having symptoms of trauma and puts up his hands to hide his face or picks at his cuticles or scabs, Gunner is there to stop him. “He’ll actually nuzzle me with my nose and get right up in my face so it’s hard for me to keep my hands there,” Fox said. In a way, the benefit of having Gunner in his life is a simple but significant one – like the benefit that Fox said would come from dropping the D out of PTSD. Both Gunner and dropping the D can work to remove barriers to care and feelings of isolation, Fox said. “He allows me to go out in the world. I can go out and focus on him if I feel uncomfortable somewhere,” Fox said of Gunner. “He’s allowed me to keep a human life going.” Andrew Waite can be reached at awaite@dailygazette.net and at 518-417-9338. Follow him on Twitter @UpstateWaite.

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Dogs, vets help each other deal with stress

8/5/2022

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Albany Times Union
1 Aug 2022
By Terry Brown
News of your troops and units can be sent to Times Union, Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com
www.pressreader.com/usa/albany-times-union/20220801/281676848666706?fbclid=IwAR1XZGb6_iL1XfWZQlcvhh9g1zJ6ReWBw3q_RLw5DL1C6RcZlYID9ZBmhRY

Courtesy of Operation At Ease
Richard Fazzone prepares his canine companion Gracie for training at Operation At Ease in Rotterdam.

A Navy veteran has found a lively way to keep post-traumatic stress at bay.
Richard Fazzone of Gloversville experienced a number of traumatic events while on Navy duty. That left him angry, isolated, and depressed at times.
He was his mother’s caregiver before she died and his dad died of COVID-19. The recent loss of his parents also impacted his life.
Fazzone turned to Operation At Ease, a nonprofit program in Rotterdam, that pairs shelter canines with deserving veterans and first responders.
Joni Bonilla, OAE founder, helped Fazzone adopt Gracie, a mutt, from the Hudson-mohawk Humane Society in Menands, earlier this year.
Since then, Bonilla, a certified dog trainer, and an intern, Danielle Gioielli, have been working with Fazzone and Gracie to turn the dog into a post-traumatic stress and light mobility service dog. Classroom sessions are at OAE, 203 Central Ave., Rotterdam.
Fazzone and other handlers in the program are assigned homework — training drills. They train in their homes and in urban settings such as malls, restaurants, parks crowded with people. Upon completion of the eight-month program, Fazzone and service dog in-training Gracie will have to pass two American Kennel Club tests and a public access test.
Fazzone has already started to benefit from the program.
“Not only have I rescued Gracie, Gracie has rescued me,” Fazzone said after a training session.
It was apparent; the two have bonded well and are affectionate to each other. Gracie is very quick at getting focused on Fazzone.
“Gracie has helped me a lot already and helps me deal with isolation, anxiety and depression,” he said before he took Gracie to a park under Bonilla’s guidance. “She helps calm me down. I am more active because of her. I experience less anxiety. When I feel down, she lifts me up.”
Gracie had issues, too. But the training has helped, for example end incessant barking, according to Bonilla. Bonilla has two other missions. She encourages people to drop certain words regarding veterans.
Regarding post-traumatic stress, Bonilla leaves out “disorder,” she said, as a way to rid stigma.
“Unfortunately it is a long-held belief in our society that post-traumatic stress is a disorder,” she said. “At OAE we are working hard to stop the stigma associated with trauma and invisible wounds through outreach and community events. With proper treatment and intervention injuries can heal.”
The other mission is prompting an awareness that veterans are not disabled, they are deserving veterans, she says.
“Our veterans are deserving rather than disabled,” Bonilla says. “I think it’s is important to stop the stigma that veterans return home irrevocably broken.”
Bonilla and her other trainers have successfully paired more than 100 handlers with rescued canines since she started the program in 2015. The program is free to deserving veterans, and first responders, including those with PTS, traumatic brain injury, injuries, and or wounds.
As a military spouse, she is very familiar with what military personnel as well as first responders must endure including battlefield, violence and bad accident experiences.
Bonilla is a certified trainer, AKC evaluator and has earned a degree in animal care from North Shore Community College, Lynn, Mass. She combined her education, personal experiences and dog training to come up with ways dogs can be trained to help keep their owner’s post-traumatic stress at ease and or prevent relapses.
She had learned there are long wait lists and high costs for service dogs. That motivated her to found Operation At Ease.
The program is open to veterans, first responders and others who are dealing with post-traumatic stress that could be combat related, relating to sexual and other abuse as well as anything that’s traumatic, according to Bonilla.
To enroll in a future class, contact Joni Bonilla at 518-847-9941 or joni@operationatease.org.
To help finance future service dog teams donations are needed. To make a donation, send checks to Operation At Ease, P.O. Box 9156, Schenectady, NY 12309.
Annual ride
The fourth annual PTS Awareness Ride for the benefit of OAE will be
held at noon Saturday, Aug. 20 at Spitzies, 1970 Central Ave., Colonie. Registration for the motorcycle ride event will begin at 10 a.m. Kick stands go up at noon. Music, entertainment, lunch, raffles and vendors are planned for the end of the motorcycle ride at the Nanola Restaurant, 2639 Route 9, Malta.
Donation is $20 per rider and $10 per passenger.
Coast Guard celebration
The Coast Guard’s 232nd birthday will be celebrated by the Coast Guard Auxiliary at 10 a.m. Saturday aboard the USS Slater berthed at Broadway and Quay Street, Hudson River, Albany.
On Thursday and Saturday, Coast Guard veterans can tour the USS Slater, a World War II Navy destroyer escort, for free. The museum ship is open between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays through Nov. 27.
Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8 for children and children younger than 5 are free.
During World War II Coast Guard members manned hundreds of Navy and Army vessels, including 30 destroyer escorts like the Slater. Slater and other escorts hunted enemy submarines, protected convoys to Europe, and delivered troops and supplies. Escorts battled U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic.

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Local Organization Training Service Dogs, Healing Veterans →

9/23/2021

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Click Here To Watch The Video

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Duty Calls: Military Spouse Trains Canines To Ease PTSD

6/19/2021

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Thank you Albany Times-Union for the great article in today’s paper! Make sure you give it a read, a share and mark your calendars for our upcoming fundraisers!

*wagtowndogs dog wash next Sunday(06-20-21). If your dog isn’t dirty no problem! Join us for lunch @messpluscrabsaucequeen, a @konaiceofcp and visit our other vendors for a great family fun day.
* #stopthestigma Motorcycle ride August 21st starting @spitziesharleydavidson

So excited to being back in person this year!

#518lovewhereyoulive #518dogs #veterans #firstresponders #servicedog #shelterdog #hellyeah #dogtrainer #lovemyjob

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Operation At Ease (1st Responder PTS W/ Joni Bonilla) | Medic Materials Podcast

5/2/2021

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In today's episode of the #medicmaterialspodcast we speak with Joni Bonilla, a professional dog trainer who has created a Service Dog training program for First Responders and Veterans. This program aims to heal wounds caused by Post Traumatic Stress and shed light on the stigma of Post Traumatic Stress in the First Responder community. This is an informative and inspirational conversation and we hope you will reach out if you believe you're in need of one of Joni's service dogs or want to help support her cause. We are joined with Emily (NYS EMT, ER-RN), Kelsey (NYS EMT) & Gerard (NYS AEMT-P)

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Interview With Steve Caporizzo

4/22/2021

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1-Joni Bonilla and Operation At Ease and the amazing rescue work they do for pets at shelters and people !

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This Weeks Fearless Female Joni Bonilla @ Moxxi Coffee

4/22/2021

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Joni is the founder of Operation at ease. a non-profit dedicated to pairing shelter dogs with veterans and first responders in need. Joni recognized that there was a gap in care for our veterans and the stigma following the invisible disability that is PTSD and decided to do something about it. To read the full story click the image below.

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