WAXHAW, N.C. — On Veterans Day, we honor those who served in the military and devoted their lives to protecting the freedoms of all Americans. But sometimes the transition back to normal life isn't easy for veterans.
That's why Project 2 Heal, a Waxhaw nonprofit, works to provide a service dog to those in need.
“Our veterans went away to protect our freedoms, when they come back and they’re not healthy we have an obligation to them," Charlie Petrizzo, founder of Project 2 Heal, said.
Each litter of puppies is training to help veterans with disabilities, but the animals can be hard to train and few are available.
“People are getting hearts, lungs, livers, in less than four years but it takes four years to get a service dog and there’s only one reason why -- there’s not enough good dogs in the United States," Petrizzo said.
While they train the dogs at their facility, they also provide them to other organizations who give our nations heroes a second chance by giving them man's best friend.
“Our longest partner that has been receiving puppies from us has a 90% success rate,” Petrizzo said.
While Petrizzo isn't a veteran himself, he's been told the impact they've made to veterans is life saving.
“He leaned into me put a hand on my shoulder and he said through tears, 'Thank you very much for this dog sir, I was one trigger away from taking my own life and now I’m sure this dog will take care of me and I promise I’ll take care of him," Petrizzo said, describing a conversation.
Project 2 Heal would like to expand to a bigger location to help tackle the need, but it takes more funding.
Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.