"Rays of Light" with Therapy Dogs
Night Lights is a respite visit that provides special needs kids a night out once a month while giving their parents a well-needed night off.
This is a program provided by the non-profit organization, Rays of Light, Inc., on the first 3 Friday nights of the month. The children they serve cover the full spectrum of special needs up to age 18.
Each child has a dedicated volunteer for the evening. The kids are dropped off at 5:30 pm and are picked up around 9:30 to 10:00. The pet therapy visit is from 8:00 until about 9:15pm.
There are several activities to entertain the children including: movies, a full-sized gym with lots of activities, puppet shows, a computer room, crafts and games. There are often special events earlier in the evening such as a petting zoo, a balloon artist, a clown or face painting. Everyone loves the Therapy Dogs who come after these events finish... including the children, volunteers and staff.
According to Debbie Solomon, Program Manager at Night Lights: “We love having the therapy dog owners and dogs join us at our Friday night respite for kids with special needs. I get a lot of kids each Friday night asking when the dogs will be arriving. The kids love to sit on the floor and pet the dogs. The dogs bring such joy to all of us and we look forward to each and every visit! We have a boy in a wheelchair that lights up when he sees Dobie and feels his fur. It's not that often that he smiles but when he's around Dobie, he has the biggest smile on his face. We appreciate the visits from the owners and their dogs so much!!”
Night Lights can be a high energy visit, so it’s not for everyone. However, we’ve had many teams over the years that were regular volunteers at Night Lights (1-3 visits a month). People generally like visiting here because they: like being with the children, the location is convenient (Lovers Lane Methodist Church in Dallas), the timing (Friday nights from 8 to 9:15) works with their schedule and they enjoy the comradery with the other teams and staff. Having grown up with a special needs sister, I really appreciate the impact the program has on both the children and their parents.
During the Pandemic, several of our core teams retired, moved, lost their dog or they no longer visit. As a result, the number of our core teams is down and we’re hoping to add some additional teams. Marsha Maimbourg, one of the original handlers at Night Lights, is on a hiatus this year while she works towards certifying her new puppy, Jasper...he’s such a handsome boy! We hope to see them at Night Lights early next year. Greg Southerlin has visited at Night Lights for several years and currently visits with Elsie, a Standard Poodle. Lezlie Griffen and Fletcher are our newest team. They visited for the first time this spring and immediately fit right in! I’ve been visiting at Night Lights for about 12 years and now visit with Dobie.
Here are some links to provide more information about the Night Lights program:
https://www.raysoflightdallas.org/
https://www.raysoflightdallas.org/programs
Rays of Light Training
We hope you’ll consider adding the Night Lights visit to your regular list of visits. Please feel free to call or email Lynn Lawrence with any questions.
