Pet Partners prides itself on being a leader and visionary in the field of AAI, delivering hope and healing to communities across the country and around the world.
We paved the way to recognizing the importance and benefits of the human-animal bond. We presented the first comprehensive, standardized training in AAI for volunteers and healthcare professionals. When the needs and abilities of our volunteers and clients changed, we developed new ways for our teams to serve their communities.
It is imperative that we now recognize and acknowledge health equity and disparities in marginalized communities and ensure that we are purposeful in our efforts to improve the field of AAI. We have focused these efforts into three pillars for our DEI work:
In order to move forward, you must first understand where you are. Collecting demographic information from our volunteers allows Pet Partners to better understand who our volunteers are and how we can make our program more accessible to all potential volunteers interested in our Therapy Animal Program. This information will also help us set a benchmark by which we can measure our progress year over year. Have more questions about the Pet Partners commitment to diversity, equity, & inclusion? Contact our DEI Committee.
At Pet Partners, our volunteers serve diverse populations of people with any of the nine species of animals we register. We are committed to creating a volunteer force that is more representative of the populations we serve. We welcome unique perspectives and experiences in terms of national origin, culture, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, race, color, sex, gender identity and expression, education, age, languages spoken, veteran status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs, which help us strengthen our impact.