Meet Rosalie, the New St. Jude Facility Dog
On bad days, the employees of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital can turn to Rosalie. The 60-pound golden retriever is the newest trained facility dog, joining Huckleberry and Puggle.
Together, they bring smiles and so much more to the children and staff at St. Jude. The two older pups were introduced in 2019 as part of the St. Jude Paws at Play program. Their duties include helping patients achieve clinical goals and providing social interaction and stress reduction, plus sensory stimulation.
Rosalie will provide similar value to employees. The 2-year-old is part of the Staff Resilience Center, which helps those experiencing stress, burnout and compassion fatigue. St. Jude chaplain Kimberly Russell handles Rosalie, who is especially adept at empathy, non-judgmental listening and support. Together they'll attend sessions with staff after events like the loss of a patient or colleague, and they'll make the rounds. Staff can also request visits.
St. Jude President and CEO James R. Downing spoke to the value all three dogs provide the St. Jude campus, noting that they've been especially valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We know the impact this type of support can have," he says. "Rosalie is a wonderful resource for helping employees continue to tackle the challenging, but also rewarding charge of finding cures and saving children."
From Feb. 2-3, Taste of Country is joining more than a dozen Townsquare Media stations in taking part in a radiothon for St. Jude. It's the ninth straight year for the fundraiser. On these days we're asking you to learn more about St. Jude and to become a Partner In Hope. This $19 a month commitment is central to the Country Cares program, an initiative started over 30 years ago by Randy Owen. To date, nearly $1 billion has been raised to help make sure no family ever receives a bill at St. Jude.