Happy Paws Happy Hearts Foundation

🎄 A big thank you to Village Voice Brisbane and IGA Marketplace Ascot for including Happy Paws Happy Hearts in their Christmas Giving campaign! This wonderful partnership is supporting 12 local charities in Brisbane to help those in need during the festive season. Even more generously, IGA Marketplace Ascot will match every donation dollar-for-dollar, doubling the impact of your contribution. If you're a Brisbane local, pop into IGA Marketplace Ascot, purchase a $2 donation token, and drop it into the Happy Paws Happy Hearts donation container to support our mission. Your generosity will help vulnerable Australians and rescue animals find connection and hope this Christmas. 🎁💙 Thank you again to IGA Marketplace Ascot and Village Voice for your support!

Explore Program: Mock Interview Success in Hunter Valley! The “Explore” Employment Pathways Program participants in Hunter Valley achieved an incredible milestone this week by completing their mock interviews! This activity showcased our participants' readiness, resilience, and remarkable progress throughout the program, noted HPHH Case Manager, Alana. The day began with practice interviews led by HPHH team, Lucy and Alana, helping participants refine their approach before stepping into formal mock interviews with Heather Van Galen, from our wonderful long-term supporter, Westpac Group. Heather generously donated her time to offer participants invaluable feedback to help them shine in any interview setting. She put the participants at ease with her warm and helpful nature. The Explore participants came well-prepared—some dressed to impress in their Dress for Success NSW & ACT for Success gear—equipped with notes and a healthy dose of confidence. They tackled curveball questions from Heather with grace and quick thinking, showing great adaptability and resilience. We are so proud of how each participant embraced this opportunity to build essential interview skills and boost their confidence for the future. A huge thank you to Heather and Westpac for their ongoing support of our Explore participants this year! 🌟 Your support has empowered our participants to graduate with greater confidence, independence, and optimism as they embark on their upcoming vocational journeys.

🌟 Building Interview Skills and Confidence with Flight Centre Foundation 🌟 A huge shoutout to our amazing corporate partner Flight Centre Foundation for hosting mock interviews for our “Explore” employment pathways participants. Thank you to the wonderful Flight Centre Travel Group staff who generously volunteered their time to help out with the mock interviews! 🎉 Held at the Flight Centre HQ in South Brisbane, this exercise provided invaluable experience for our participants as they prepare for real-world interviews. They tackled some common interview questions, shared stories and had some laughs together. Throughout the mock interview experience the participants practiced some essential skills they have been learning during the program such as: 🚌 Transport planning 👔 Dressing for success 💬 Answering interview questions These sessions are more than just practice—they help build confidence, ease nerves and set participants up for success as they prepare for their upcoming vocational journeys. Both our Wacol and Dakabin Explore participants had an incredible day, showing amazing enthusiasm and courage as they embraced every moment with confidence and positivity! 💙 #HPHH 

🎄 It's not too late to Give the Gift of Connection this season and gift your family, friends or colleagues a special donation which will help combat loneliness and social isolation and bring connection to Australians in 2025! ✨ Check out our special Christmas Donation appeal and find out exactly what your donation will contribute to via our website below.

Calling our Mackay Community! Interested in joining Happy Paws Happy Hearts? Later next week, we’re hosting our final General Orientation Session (GOS) for Mackay this year! Our GOS is a fantastic opportunity to: 🐾 Visit our Mackay location and explore our training rooms. 🐾 Learn about who we are and what we do. 🐾 Meet our local trainer and some furry friends! 📅 Later next week!    Time and location confirmed on enquiry submission and enrolment   This session is a relaxed, no-obligation, free introduction for potential participants to explore what HPHH has to offer. Important: To attend, you must complete our Participant Enquiry Form and receive confirmation from our Enrolment Team. Our GOS is not open to the public and is exclusively for those who are interested in joining our programs and have registered for a spot. If you or someone you know have been wanting to learn more about Happy Paws Happy Hearts and are considering a fun, engaging and supportive program to join, head to our website to complete the Participant Enquiry Form today! Once submitted, our friendly Enrolment Team will contact you with further details. Our programs are suitable for people who are: ·       12+ years old ·       Part of the NDIS, SLES, other disability services, or self-funded. ·       Interested in goal setting, learning specific tasks, and becoming more social. ·       Want to learn about animal shelters and the animal care industry. ·       Want to meet an assortment of furry friends. Complete our participant form below: 🔗https://lnkd.in/gKdPVgwe #HPHH #Mackay #OrientationSession #NDISPrograms #CommunityConnections *Happy Paws Happy Hearts is not an animal therapy program

Today, on International Volunteer Day, we celebrate the incredible dedication and passion of our volunteers. 💙 Their hard work and commitment are pivotal to the success of our programs, creating lasting impacts for both people and animals in our programs. 🐾 For this International Volunteer Day, we wanted to highlight and share the amazing work of volunteers like Barb in Darwin. Read Barb’s story on volunteering with Happy Paws Happy Hearts here: https://lnkd.in/g6e-CDsu Thank you to every volunteer who makes a difference each day – we couldn’t do it without you! 🌟 #InternationalVolunteerDay #Volunteers #HPHH

🎉 A huge THANK YOU to the Caboolture Family Network for their incredible generosity! Through their Ready, Set, Prep Program, the team collected funds from their recycling of bottles and cans and chose Happy Paws Happy Hearts as the recipient. 💚🐾 We are truly humbled and honoured to have been selected, and it was a joy to welcome them out to our Dakabin location to present the cheque alongside our participants. 🙌 This generous support helps to build a stronger, more connected community and bring hope to those who need it most. Thank you for helping Happy Paws Happy Hearts make a difference! 🌟 Felicity Hibbins Jess Odgers (nee Baker) Summer Morgan #CommunitySupport #Recycling #ChristmasDonations #HappyPawsHappyHearts #HPHH 

🌟 Bridging Generations, Building Connections 🌟 Happy Paws Happy Hearts (HPHH) was excited to hold another successful Intergenerational Program for 2024 at RSPCA Brisbane Animal Care Campus at Wacol. Thanks to Eastern Star Foundation for the generous grant funding to hold this program. We were thrilled to welcome both new and familiar faces from Bupa Aged Care New Farm to take part in our Wednesday afternoon Intro to Handle class. After hearing about how Happy Paws Happy Hearts creates meaningful connections between people and rescue animals, the residents saw this mission come to life through participant demonstrations of animal handling, care, enrichment, and training techniques. One participant stepped out of her comfort zone to speak confidently to the group, sharing her personal story of why she comes to Happy Paws Happy Hearts and what it means to her. This is something she couldn’t have imagined herself doing before coming to HPHH. Read Cathy’s incredible story of Confidence from this session in the link below. https://lnkd.in/gHR55tUi It’s wonderful to see our Intergenerational Program flourish as a platform for sharing stories, skills, and smiles. Thanks to Eastern Star Foundation, Zoe Black, Kellie Ireland, Wendy Lawrence, National Lifestyle and Wellbeing Advisor at Bupa Aged Care, Tara Trevanion, New Farm General Manager, and Vatan Deep Kaur Khaira, Lifestyle Coordinator for organising and supporting this special day. #HPHH #IntergenerationalProgram #AgedCare #AnimalConnection #PetTherapy #Enrichment

International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPwD) celebrates the contributions of people with disabilities and highlights the importance of inclusivity. At Happy Paws Happy Hearts (HPHH), 86% of our participants are neurodivergent or living with a disability. We’re committed to creating inclusive spaces that combat social isolation and build meaningful connections. This IDPwD, we celebrate the mutual impact between our participants and rescue animals. Through our wonderful partnership with organisations like RSPCA Queensland, Happy Paws Happy Hearts programs provide opportunities for growth, confidence, and joy for both people and animals. Participants engage in fun, supportive group activities where they care for animals and help them become adoptable while finding purpose and connection themselves. In 2024 alone, Happy Paws Happy Hearts participants built connections with 15,253 rescue animals in RSPCA Queensland shelter locations and delivered 7,627 hours of animal socialisation and training. The bond formed between participants and animals is transformative—building trust, independence, and a sense of belonging. Together, we’re fostering brighter futures for people and animals alike through compassion, collaboration, and connection. As we head into 2025, we look forward to reaching more Australians and creating pathways out of social isolation, thanks to our amazing partners like RSPCA Queensland and rescue shelters nationwide. Together, we want to continue striving towards creating an inclusive and diverse community. #IDPwD2024 #InclusionMatters #OutcomesForThePawsAndHearts #HPHH #RSPCAQLD

Do you want to give back to the community and support young people on their journey to a vocational pathway? Happy Paws Happy Hearts is seeking passionate businesses willing to host work experience placements for our ‘Explore’ Employment Pathways Program participants across multiple locations. By offering a placement, you’ll be helping eager young people gain valuable hands-on experience, build confidence, and take the next step toward their career goals. While many of our participants are passionate about animals and aspire to enter the animal care industry, we are also looking for many host businesses that are not limited to this sector. Our Explore participants possess a wide range of interests and skills, allowing us to match them with various types of businesses. Placements traditionally run between 6-10 weeks, with a commitment of 3 hours per week (we are flexible with this). Our dedicated Case Managers will be there every step of the way to provide support and guidance to both host businesses and our participants. 📍We currently run our Explore Programs across Wacol, Dakabin and Toowoomba in Queensland, and Hunter Valley in New South Wales! 👉 Interested in learning more? Visit our web page below and complete our Expression of Interest form. https://lnkd.in/girGs6Q6 #WorkExperiencePrograms #WorkPlacement #VocationalSupport #SMEs #HappyPawsHappyHearts