Shelter to Soldier

Shelter to Soldier Graduates Service Dog with Distinguished 26-Year US Navy Career Veteran Karen Miller

by Eva M. Stimson

In 2015, Karen Miller (US Navy, Senior Chief Boatswain Mate, E8), applied to Shelter to Soldier (STS) to receive a service dog to help Karen alleviate medical conditions she was battling after multiple, consecutive tours she served in the US military over the span of 26 years. Karen was extremely grateful to be accepted into the STS program and declares that her dog Seven (sponsored by FINE Magazine and Schubach Aviation) was a lifesaver. Seven unfortunately succumbed to arthritis and retired her job as a psychiatric service dog, but STS quickly reassigned a new service dog to Karen named Grace (sponsored by the David C. Copley Foundation), who is full of energy and ambition to serve Karen’s needs. Karen explains, “Seven supported me for five years before arthritis made it hard for her to work, so she was retired and I was matched with Grace”.

Karen has an illustrious military career defending the United States of America. She joined the Navy in August of 1987, and her first deployment was on a ship in 1988 during Operation Praying Mantis. She was then stationed there in 1991 on another ship during Desert Storm. Afterwards, she was assigned more ship deployments to the Gulf, plus counter-drug operations off the coast of Central America. Her shore duty stations included a tour as a Military Police Officer, Instructor and then general duty assignment. She was deployed to Afghanistan as an Individual Augmentee from March 2006 to June 2007, during which she was a part of a small, embedded training team that worked with the Afghan Army conducting training, patrols and leadership mentoring at a small ANA (Afghan National Army) base outside Kandahar Airfield. Karen officially retired from active military service in June of 2013. During her deployments, Karen experienced extreme trauma that affected her ability to cope with civilian life after military retirement.

Regarding her military experience and subsequent inability to cope with post-military duty challenges due to PTS, Karen elaborates, “The military has changed so much over the many years that I have been in service… it was frustrating for someone like me to ask for help as I was so used to being in charge, but STS embraced my request. Thanks to my STS service dog Grace, I have been able to overcome some of the anguish I experienced. Grace is so disciplined…she responds to commands and she is very intuitive. She knows when I’m under stress and she has happy energy when I’m paying attention to her. She makes me smile more often, and when I’m with her, she climbs on my lap and she’s doing that all on her own. She senses when I need her comfort.”

Shelter to Soldier (STS) is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that adopts dogs from local shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-9/11 combat veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or other psychological injuries. STS has developed a unique model that encourages qualified veterans to apply to their program at no cost to them, and then pairing them with service-trained shelter dogs.

Karen elaborates, “I only went one time to the VA (Veteran’s Administration) for help, and I met with a young physician who had recently graduated…we had nothing in common, and he was unable to sympathize with my needs. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen some information about the STS program while I was visiting the Chula Vista Vet Center, where I was attending group and individual therapy sessions for PTS, after realizing that the VA could not provide the help I needed. My message to my fellow veterans is that the STS program is for everyone, and you’re never too old to ask for help. Those of us who have had longer tours never got the help we needed and it [stress] builds up over time. The amazing thing about STS is that they don’t care about your limitations or the length of your suffering…they are here to help, no matter what your age or rank.”

Shelter to Soldier Co Founder, Graham Bloem has been professionally training dogs for over 20 years and is the recipient of the American Red Cross Real Heroes Award, 10News Leadership Award, CBS8 News Change It Up Award, Honeywell Life Safety Award, and the 2016 Waggy Award. Shelter to Soldier is accredited by the Patriot’s Initiative. To learn more about veteran-support services provided by STS, call 760-870-5338 for a confidential interview regarding eligibility. To contribute to Shelter to Soldier’s mission as a corporate sponsor, individual donor or participate in a fundraising event, visit sheltertosoldier.org.corporate sponsor, individual donor or participate in a fundraising event, visit www.sheltertosoldier.org.

“Thanks to my STS service dog Grace, I have been able to overcome some of the anguish I experienced. Grace is so disciplined…she responds to commands and she is very intuitive.”

Karen & Seven Karen & Grace