Core Values
What we stand for
Trust
In the Veteran community trust has, too often, been lost. To build trust, we do what we say we are going to do, we show up when we say we are going to show up, and we never profit from the thing (leashes) that brings us to the table.
Friendship
Bringing people who have little in common together might spark a conversation, but it does not equal a friendship. Friendship comes from a repetitive connection or activity and establishing common ground.
Family
In the wounded warrior community, family doesn’t always look like the families we see on a Christmas card. Family is a group of individuals that help you survive.
Purpose
Without the desire to do good for someone else, not one leash can be made. All we do is provide a reoccurring, inexpensive, tangible way to give a gift to Veterans, 1st responders, and service- and military-dogs. We encourage local giving, like, “take it home and give it to your neighbor”, and we want leashmakers to return and continue giving to family, neighbors, co-workers, or veteran-support organizations.
Understanding
Walls come down when we are interested in the person on the other side of the table. We don’t need to know your deepest, darkest secrets, just why you like cheese, or don’t; why you like dogs, or don’t; where you went on vacation, or didn’t…
Acceptance
The truth might have been forgotten due to a brain injury; there is fear that our community won’t like our truth; sometimes we believe no one wants to listen to our truth. At the leashmaking table, painful, funny, sad, and unspoken truths are all accepted.
Service
The military and Veteran population is primarily made up of service leaders, those people who come together to do something for someone else. We reconnect, over-and-over-again, for service to others.
Common ground
We have a jar of questions. The jar is labeled Common Ground, and it is filled with questions that are open-ended opportunities to tell a little bit about yourself. We never tell anyone that they are required to answer a question; they are just an option. We are committed to building common ground as a platform for conversations.
Hope
Hope is the belief that, in the midst of difficulty, we can still find joy, friendship, family, purpose, understanding, acceptance, service, and common ground.
Community
Community is the mix of humans and animals that bring trust, friendship, family, purpose, understanding, acceptance, service, common ground, and hope to the table. It’s the neighbor, the co-worker, the member of a Veteran support org, the shop owner, the businesswoman, the legislator… all who join us.