PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Victims to Vikings

Truth for Health Foundation Trauma Recovery and K-9 Guardian Program

Truth for Health Foundation announces the innovative and urgently needed Trauma Recovery and K-9 Guardian Program: Victims to Vikings, created by 33-year law enforcement K-9 trainer Jim Houck, who is currently the Security Services consultant and Chief Creative Director for Truth for Health Foundation, with medical input by Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD, President and CEO.   Jim has been a trainer for the Los Angeles County Police K-9 Association, the largest Law Enforcement K-9 organization in the Western Hemisphere incorporating over 62 law enforcement agencies, including: the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD, the largest law enforcement agency in America); LAPD SWAT, LAPD Metro and LAPD Gang Homicide. He’s trained K-9s with California Highway Patrol, Rialto SWAT, Santa Monica Police, Malibu Sheriffs Department, Miami Beach Police (MBP), MBP SWAT, Miami-Dade Police, New Orleans Police, and many smaller agencies, along with federal agencies for high-risk individuals in the Witness Protection Program.

Background and Rationale: When a woman or a child has been subjected to the brutality, terror and trauma of physical or sexual assault, or has been a rape slave (whether abducted or sold into this heinous trade), after a rescue each person faces an enormous psychological, physical and spiritual challenges to restore health and normal function in personal, occupational and social relationships.  The process of reintegrating back into normal society can seem insurmountable. Many simply give up and return to “the life”, actually going back to their abusers. Those who have been victims of such abuse typically feel infinitely vulnerable, sometimes worthless, or forever damaged, and unless they have adequate supports may find it easier to go back to the horrific yet predictable life of abuse, rape, torture and personal devastation, rather than face the fear of the unknowable world and what new horrors might befall them.  

This is where TFH K9 Guardian program comes in. Victims to Vikings places and trains elite K-9s with assault victims struggling to recover and move freely in the world again without fear.

Program Alignment with Truth For Health Foundation’s mission:  “To present faith-based integrated approaches to medical treatment, health and healing services that encompass all dimensions making us human: physical, psychological/emotional, spiritual, social and environmental.”

Victims to Vikings provides formervictims struggling with the “last mile” with medical treatment, health and healing services that encompass all dimensions making us human: physical, psychological/emotional, spiritual, social and environmental.

Truth for Health Foundation Program Leadership Team:

Truth for Health Foundation founder and CEO, Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD has a background in Internal Medicine and further specialty training in Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Dr. Vliet has been a leader in women’s health known for her integrative approach to medical-endocrine-metabolic consequences of trauma as well as the psychological and spiritual impact of trauma.  Earlier in her career, Dr. Vliet served as Medical Director for Maryview Hospital’s Women’s Treatment Program and the Maryview Pain Management program in Portsmouth VA. Dr. Vliet brings a comprehensive mind-body-spirit approach to the evaluation and treatment of trauma victims.  As a K-9 owner herself, she understands the powerful psychological benefits for vulnerable women who begin working with K-9s.

Truth For Health Foundation’s Director of Health and Resilience, Kathy Kresnik, has a background in exercise physiology, nutrition, and stress management and has worked with Dr. Vliet’s medical practice for twenty-eight years. She served as Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation exercise program at the Dallas/Fort-Worth metroplex hospital for ten years, and Baylor Cancer Center’s FIT Program for Exercise and Nutrition for cancer patients for seven years. Kathy understands in great depth how stress and trauma adversely affect health and impair utilization of nutrients needed in recovery, and the importance of physical conditioning in gaining strength and confidence after being assaulted.

Maria DelliVeneri is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Sports Medicine Specialist who works with both physical conditioning to empower trauma victims and photobiomodulation combined with sound wave therapy to augment healing of both physical and psychological damage. She was a national trainer for the sound wave and laser equipment, and was the creator of the sound wave/laser therapy program at the world-renowned Canyon Ranch Health and Fitness Resort in Tucson, Arizona, prior to moving to Oregon for her private practice.

With medical, exercise and nutritional resources plus psychological evaluation and support, coupled with Jim’s extensive K-9 training experience and expertise and his work with female trauma victims to assist their ability to move confidently in world again by having a trained K9, V2V offers a unique, effective and important opportunity to help so many who have been hurt so badly drive confidently back into life with joy, confidence and vigor.

Victims to Vikings bringing Light to the darkness. Truth for Health, where evil finds no quarter.

The role of K-9s in violent-assault recovery, why it works:

Physical and/or sexual assault is a massive problem across America and with open borders and the resulting invasion of violent men, this nightmare is now skyrocketing. Traditional therapy, while necessary and helpful, sometimes falls short. This is not a knock on traditional therapy, it’s simply a fact. Recovering from assault and being able to face the world again alone can be a huge challenge, at times insurmountable. That’s where elite personal protection K-9s come in.

First, the bond between a human and a dog needs no introduction. The unconditional love, the trust, the sheer joy both animal and person bring to each other is the stuff of legend. Second, if a former victim is struggling to go back into the world on their own, they don’t have to when they have a loyal best friend, a non-judgmental companion, and a warrior K-9 at their side 24/7.  Where therapy runs out of power, that “last mile” as Jim calls it, inherently trustworthy, loving, protective K-9s pick up the baton and drive forward alongside their human handler.

Long-term issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hyper vigilance, nightmares, agoraphobia and insomnia have also been shown to be more readily overcome when the former victim suffering from these issues has a K-9 by their side day and night, an animal whom they know loves them unconditionally, will never judge them, will never speak to anyone about the recovering former victim’s personal challenges, and will protect them with enormous and legendary capability.

Selection Criteria for Trauma Victims:  (initial thoughts on criteria for victim to be selected as recipient of K-9)

1. Applicant has been through traditional therapy, but still having trouble with PTSD phenomena interfering with or preventing return to normal work and social activities.
2. Applicant must be willing to provide medical and psychotherapy records for review by the TFH medical-psychiatric professional team to consider the victim’s application. If there are unaddressed medical issues contributing to the PTSD symptomatology, recommendations will be made by the TFH team for these to be addressed by medical professionals of the applicant’s choice as part of the evaluation and selection process.
3. Applicant must agree to request and provide to TFH program professionals a criminal background check and a current credit report.
4. Applicants must be willing to participate in an in-person interview with the TFH professional team members overseeing the program.
5. Applicant’s living arrangements allow adequate space for full-size K9, including a yard with minimum of 6-ft high chain link fence, locking gate, and space for fenced kennel with roof to safely contain the K9 when visitors are on site, and during all local weather conditions.
6. Victim applicant must be willing to make commitment to care, feeding, and veterinary needs for a full-size K9.
7. If unable to continue care of the K-9, recipient of the K-9 must agree to give TFH trainer/breeder first right of refusal to take the K9 back into the program at no cost to the Foundation.
8. If the recipient abuses, neglects or in any way mistreats or misuses the K9, the K9 automatically becomes property of the Foundation and will immediately be surrendered to the Foundation without delay.

Selection Process: similar in concept to legal grant selection process, forms, and committee review process

• The TFH Selection Committee are volunteers, not employees or contractors of the Foundation.  Committee selection is approved by the CEO of Truth for Health Foundation, and may include medical-psychiatric, legal, law enforcement/K-9 training professionals and patient advocates.

• Committee members names are confidential and not disclosed to applicants to avoid any appearance of undue influence. Any member of the Committee must disclose conflicts of interest related to an application and recuse themselves if a conflict exists for a given case. These disclosures will be maintained on file in the Truth for Health Foundation offices.                    

SELECTION AND DISTRIBUTION: PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY
• All individuals or referrals who are requesting assistance must complete a confidentiality agreement and application, available on the Truth for Health Foundation website.

• Applications are screened by the CEO of the Truth for Health Foundation and/or appropriate staff for completeness, eligibility according to IRS and Foundation criteria, and adequacy of the medical-psychological documentation provided with respect to the individual trauma recovery issues under consideration. Incomplete applications will be required to provide further documentation.

• Eligible applications are forwarded to the Committee for review and decision making. The Committee will convene as necessary (due to volume, criticality, and urgency) to review and approve applicants.

• Applicants will be notified by the Truth for Health Foundation of the Committee’s decision within five (5) business days of the Foundation receiving all votes from members.

Financial Options:

1. Charitable gifts:

Donors who wish to support the program and provide gifts to allow purchase and training of K-9s to provide to trauma victims may do so as a designated gift for this program.  Donors are not involved in the selection process and receive no tangible benefits in exchange for their gift. (All charitable contributions will be restricted with no tangible benefits received by donors. with selection of the K-9 victim recipients to be done by an independent Selection Committee set up by the Foundation, which includes program professionals to guide the selection process based on criteria established by Foundation professional team.  Recipients are selected on an impartial basis according to the established criteria.

Fee-For-Service program:

II. For individuals wishing to purchase an elite protection K-9 for themselves or others, Truth for Health Foundation can provide this service. This is a fee-for-service program and cannot be considered a charitable contribution. The fee charged will be earned revenue for the Foundation, it does not include the direct cost of fees paid for the puppy, any services of the breeder and trainer(s).