Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center was co-founded by Rebecca (Becky) Floyd and Kathie Curtis in 2010. Floyd, the Executive Director, had a dream and passion for establishing a guide dog school and pursued that dream after retiring as the Executive Director of the MS Protection and Advocacy System in Jackson, MS. Curtis, who shared the dream of a guide dog school, retired as the Director of Youth Ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson and now is the Director of Kennel Operations & Puppy Program.
“My dream to open a guide dog school started at age 21, but I had to make a living first. So when I finally retired, I knew at age 63 I wasn’t ready to sit down and do nothing,” shared Flyod. “So, I started Gallant Hearts. And here we are 15 years later, and I’m still not ready to sit down and quit.”
Floyd is blind and has worked with a guide dog since 1964. and knows firsthand the impact a dog can have on the well-being of someone visually impaired. Guide dogs help users travel independently and safely, giving them more independence, freedom, and confidence. Guide dogs make navigating streets much less stressful by assisting their users in finding locations, avoiding obstacles, and stopping at curbs. Guide dogs also offer companionship and loyalty, enhancing emotional and mental health.
“After I got my first dog, it was such a great experience,” shared Floyd. “I just wanted other people to experience the same thing. Dogs have made my life.”
The mission of Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center is to breed, raise, train, and place healthy, well-trained dogs to lead people who are blind and to do all things necessary to achieve this goal. Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center provides guide dogs, free of charge, to qualified individuals to enhance dignity and promote independent living.
“I was attending Southern Miss as a Delta Gamma and our philanthropy motto is Do Good in Service for Sight,” shared Murphy. “I thought it was awesome there was a guide dog school in Mississippi where I grew up. USM’s Delta Gamma partnered with them, and that’s how I met Becky and got involved.”
“It wasn’t until I graduated college that I became a puppy raiser,” shared Murphy. “ I ran into a friend at Target with a dog who told me about being a puppy raiser. And who doesn’t want to have a dog in Target? The rest is history.”
A puppy raiser gets a dog around ten weeks and has the dog for a year and a half or two years. A puppy raiser is responsible for socialization, getting it comfortable in public, house manners, and basic commands. After the puppy raisers, the dog goes to the professionals for extension guide training.
When asked how many puppy raisers Floyd had, she said, “Not enough. There is a worldwide shortage of puppy raisers. We need more puppy raisers. We always look for loving puppy raisers to help us prepare our puppies for training.
To date, Murphy has helped raise four Irish Cream Golden Retrievers and gone to several Delta Gamma chapters in MS, LA, and AL to tell them about Gallant Hearts and encourage them to donate funds to the organization. Since Murphy has been visiting the chapters, donations from Delta Gamma chapters have doubled.
Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center is a non-profit 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization established in April 2010 in Madison, MS. Its mission is to provide well-trained, healthy guide dogs to blind people. These dogs will be provided, free of charge, to qualified individuals throughout the United States and Canada. Fundraising remains a top priority as it averages $30,000 per dog to go from breeding to placement. Funding is done through donations from individuals and corporations, bequests, and fundraising activities.
“This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever found,” shared Floyd. “All I have ever wanted to do was breed, raise, train, and place guide dogs with people who are blind, free of charge. And we’ve done that and will continue to do that.”
Learn more about Gallant Hearts over at gallanthearts.org
