Natan Maimes & Travel Service Dog Scholarship Fund

Natan Maimes & Travel Service Dog Scholarship Fund is sponsored by At Your Service Dog Training. This scholarship fund provides reduced-cost training services to low-income people with disabilities who are training their own service dog with At Your Service Dog Training. Funding levels vary based on donor generosity.

Natan Maimes & Travel Service Dog Scholarship Fund - At Your Service Dog Training With one small gift, you can make a big difference in two lives. Safety, Independence, Freedom, Empowerment, Pride, Self-determination… in a warm, furry, tail-wagging package. The Maimes Service Dog Scholarship Fund provides reduced-cost training services to low-income people with disabilities who are transforming their lives by training a service dog.

Training a service dog is enriching, but challenging. The dog has to have the right temperament and health. The owner-trainer needs to have the skills and motivation.

Disabled people encounter barriers on a daily basis. Being unable to afford quality training shouldn’t be a barrier, let alone the determining factor for success. Our scholarship fund puts a life-changing service dog partnership within reach.

Frankie Mazzei (1961-2024), US Army and US Air Force Veteran & Maizie (German shepherd dog) “I wanted to say thank you again for the scholarship help. You do not even know how much of a difference it makes for us. We work as hard as we can and any help goes a really long way when you have a chronic illness.

” – LS & Elena (yellow Labrador retriever) Since January 2020, the Natan Maimes & Travel Service Dog Scholarship Fund has helped more than 30 service dog handler/trainer teams to achieve their dreams with over $13,000 in scholarship funding.

Disabled individuals and their dogs have used funds to cover these services… Public access group classes One-on-one task training lessons for deep pressure therapy and retrieve of dropped items SDiT puppy online classes Board-and-train for a handler in a wheelchair by a trainer using a wheelchair Service dog workshops on focus around distraction Elizabeth & Beasley (Golden retriever) Susan & Eva (mixed breed dog) How does the Maimes Fund work?

Thanks to gifts from donors, the Natan Maimes & Travel Service Dog Scholarship fund provides meaningful discounts to services provided by At Your Service Dog Training. Covered services may include online group classes, private lessons (online or in-person), day training, board-and-train, and specialty classes and workshops.

The scholarship fund is only for people with disabilities or their families who are training their own service dog with At Your Service Dog Training. Whether and how much funding is available is based on the generosity of donors. We have two levels of funding.

Initial Funding: Anyone who is low-income and uses public assistance or “benefits” programs (such as SSI, SSDI, VA benefits, SNAP, etc.) but cannot afford class or lesson fees, can receive a standard discount on all of our service dog training services. Please contact our office and let us know which benefit programs you use. Note: We offer payment plans for anyone who would be helped by spreading out payments.

If you can’t afford training fees but don’t receive public assistance, contact us to let us know about your situation. We may be able to offer some discounts, as well as a payment plan. Bob & Snowflake (Siberian husky) Continuing Funding: Service dogs that have already taken classes or lessons with At Your Service Dog Training may be eligible for a sizable scholarship to help them complete training.

These large discounts cover up to 80% of service costs. To be eligible for continued funding, we must believe, based on the dog’s temperament, trainability, and handler’s past commitment and dog’s progress, that the team is likely to complete training if financial barriers are removed. We work with the team to find out what is affordable and cover the rest.

If the only impediment is money, the Maimes Service Dog Scholarship Fund can erase that barrier! Erase Barriers for Disabled Owner-Trainers Where did the Service Dog Scholarship Fund get its name? Who are Natan Maimes and Travel?

Natan was a vibrant and social person who worked and traveled internationally and was passionate about photography, helping people, and the arts. At the age of 39, he developed multiple disabling medical conditions, including seizures. He moved home to his parents in Easthampton, MA, and suffered from depression due to the pain and isolation of frequent surgeries and long hospital stays.

Natan’s friends and family chipped in to buy him a red moyen poodle puppy whom he named “Travel,” in hopes she would help him return to his life of adventure. Travel was a funny, spirited dog who loved training and all people and dogs. Natan and Travel had a beautiful connection.

They were both full of personality and a little bit of mischief! Throughout 2017, Sharon trained three times a week with Natan Maimes and his service-dog-in-training, Travel, in the home of his parents Donna Maimes and Ellen Lacroix. Natan trains Travel in a public access group class at the Holyoke Mall Travel completed training in 2018, and Natan and Travel moved to Austin, Texas.

He emailed Sharon in early 2019 to tell her that he and Travel were doing therapy dog visits to food pantries and planning to start hospital visits, too. “Putting the huggy bear to work,” as he called it. Sadly, that was the last time Sharon heard from Natan.

He died a few months later, in June of 2019 . In his memory and as a recognition of the life-saving impact Travel had on Natan’s life for the three years they were together, Natan’s family and friends donated $5,000 to At Your Service Dog Training to launch its scholarship fund. What Natan said about Travel are sentiments we hear often from our clients: “The one constant thing has been Travel.

She has visited me in the hospital every time and been at my feet through recovery. She has helped me more than I thought a dog could. Travel provided great comfort to Natan when he was ill “I can honestly say at times I would love to have just closed my eyes and not woke up.

Travel helped motivate me and made me work harder and change my life and health around. She has helped through my physical rehab and been my emotional constant. I do not know if I can ever express how much that means to me.

” Donate to the Fund here . Travel lived with Donna and Ellen as a loving and pampered pet until June of 2024 when she died of cancer. Like Natan, she is dearly missed but continues to help other disabled people and their dogs as the namesake of the service dog scholarship fund.

Would you or your company like to sponsor the Maimes Service Dog Scholarship Fund? Contact us to make an ongoing gift!

Benefits include… Provide ongoing support to disabled individuals and their dogs in becoming highly trained service dog teams Good for your local community – well-trained service dogs are safer and healthier for the public and commerce “Being provided with a scholarship geared toward Handlers of Color made training my service dog more accessible for me and allowed both my dog and I to be a confident team and grow in the direction we needed.

Thank you again for all your support and help! ” – Aria & Saoirsa (Cattle dog mix) Thank You to Our Sponsors Diemand Farm is a small family-owned farm that raises and processes their own poultry and cage-free eggs, and hormone- and antibiotic-free meat. In their small commercial kitchen, they create delicious home-style foods which they sell in their farm store and provide at catered events.

Frequently Asked Questions What is the best way to make a gift to the Service Dog Scholarship Fund? There are two options. Use this link to donate to the Maimes Scholarship GoFundMe o r mail a check to At Your Service Dog Training, PO Box 632, Hadley, MA 01035.

(Make out the check to “At Your Service” and put “Scholarship” in the memo line.) Thank you! Can I make a gift earmarked to a particular dog and handler?

Leicia & Ahsoka (black Labrador retriever) Yes! If you know someone who is training their service dog with us, earmarking a gift is a wonderful way to support their bid for independence, safety, and a better life. Simply use one of our two donation options: If donating online, make your donation, then email us to let us know which dog and handler’s account to credit.

If mailing a check, m ake out the check to “At Your Service” and put “Scholarship for” and the handler’s name in the memo line. Mail it to At Your Service Dog Training, PO Box 632, Hadley, MA 01035.) How can I apply for a scholarship for my dog?

If you are training your own service dog or plan to, before you register for classes or lessons with us, please fill out our scholarship application form to see what discount you are eligible for. If you haven’t done so already, we’ll also need you to watch the free introductory video on our home page and fill out the Owned Dog Intake Form .

If you have previously taken classes or lessons with us and are seeking funding again, or need a higher level of funding, please email us. Let us know which training services you’re looking for and what level of support you need for the current training task. Depending on the situation, we may ask for more information on either your dog’s training or your financial need.

If you registered for a class or lesson before learning that you may be eligible for a low-income discount, let us know. When you next register for a class or lesson, we will give you a coupon code for the current service, as well as deducting the discount we would have given you from the previous service. Note: We have been proud to provide scholarships for everyone who has needed one from 2023 to the present.

However, as funds are entirely dependent on gifts, we can never guarantee how much will be available in the future. Is my gift tax-deductible? Yes!

We are now affiliated with Phoenix Rising, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide life-saving service dogs to people with PTSD and other mental health disabilities. Who has received funding so far? Megan & Puzzle (Standard poodle) Over 50 service dog teams have received help from the Scholarship Fund so far.

All of the dogs and handlers pictured on this page (except Natan and Travel) received scholarship funding to train their service dogs. Can I apply for funding to have my dog trained by a different organization or trainer? We’re sorry, but the Maimes Service Dog Scholarship Fund is only for teams who are training with At Your Service Dog Training.

We have very limited funds. Every penny is donated by caring people who know our work and want to support our client teams. If you’re training your dog with another trainer, check with them about scholarship or fundraising options.

Yes, I want to support these service dog teams!