Crisis Response Canines
Our church proudly supports Crisis Response Canines and their important work in providing “strength, comfort, and emotional support” following crisis situations.
Most Sundays when you visit Centenary, you will hear some jingling collars from the balcony above our church service as our special canine members Ty, Gus, and Stanley hang out with their human Curt Merker. These pups are specially trained and certified to respond in crisis situations. Centenary supports Curt, Ty, Gus, and Stanley in their work through Crisis Response Canines, a non-profit organization with teams throughout the country.
In church, Ty, Gus, and Stanley visit with our children during the Children’s Message and outside of church they read with children in schools, visit community members to raise their spirits, and travel around the country after a crisis to provide support to those affects and first responders. Centenary is proud to support this important work. Please visit Crisis Response Canine’s website or Facebook page to learn more.
CRC Mission
The mission of Crisis Response Canines is to provide strength, comfort, and emotional support to individuals, families, communities, and first responders experiencing intense traumatic emotions in the aftermath of critical incidents.
About the CRC…in their words:
Crisis Response Canines (CRC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of certified K9 teams throughout the United States who have dedicated thousands of hours comforting those impacted by personal or community crisis events Our highly trained K9 teams are experienced in psychological first aid and certified to work effectively in crisis environments supporting anyone affected by mass shootings, large-scale accidents, violence, abuse, tragic death, suicides, terrorism, natural disasters (fire, flood, hurricane, etc.), and more.
Our goal is to establish a nationwide network of canine crisis response teams who can be deployed immediately where they are needed most. CRC also offers local volunteer services that are provided by the handlers and their canine partners, offering a level of comfort and calmness that only a canine can.
CRC has two team levels: CRC Comfort and CRC Operational Deployment. Our CRC Comfort Teams serve as the foundation for our visits to hospitals, schools, businesses, speaking events, and other similar opportunities. The CRC Operational Deployment teams have the capability to respond to National Crisis Events. Additional training completed by the Operational Deployment teams include the AKC Canine Good Citizen Advanced (CGCA), Canine Good Citizen Urban (CGCU) Certification, CRC Crisis Working Dog Certification, Law Enforcement Defensive Systems Crisis Working Dog Certification, and specific courses associated with healthcare, mental, & behavioral health.
Our volunteer members and their canine partners are background checked, and must complete a comprehensive series of nationally recognized certifications and commit to ongoing training with annual re-testing/re-certifications as required to perform duties.
