Rockland, Ontario
Mr. Marc Lapointe is a Veteran of Canada’s Special Operations Regiment. Following his service, he co-founded the AUDEAMUS Service Dog Program. Through Mr. Lapointe’s leadership as an Ontario resident, he incorporated a proficient research and evaluation committee to support projects undertaken by AUDEAMUS. The approach is taken not only to continuously monitor outcomes, but also to contribute to the academic field of animal assisted interventions. In this way, others may take advantage of their work and experience. AUDEAMUS is also working with children and youth, using a combined qualitative / quantitative research design. A neurosequential brain mapping metric combined with qualitative methods provides continuous feedback on individual progress and program effectiveness. They intend to publish their results. AUDEAMUS is currently working in collaboration to assist the Hero’s Companion program, where they pair high-quality trained service dogs with Veterans of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ukrainian volunteer battalions who continue to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and other invisible and visible injuries inflicted by time spent in combat operations. The organization has expanded the scope of its well-known service dog program beyond its roots in Ontario. Veterans and their families from across the country who are interested in service dog treatment no longer have to travel to one location for training and certification: trainers navigate the country to mentor Veterans in each province. Mr. Lapointe’s services have helped many Veterans access this life-saving program. He has an exceptional dedication to AUDEAMUS and volunteers much of his time to helping Veterans. He frequently invites Veterans into his home during the service dog training period, and checks in following the training period to make sure the Veteran and the service dog are well matched. As the National Program Director and Co-Founder, Mr. Lapointe receives references from therapists and doctors associated with Veterans Affairs Canada to treat Veterans with operational stress injuries. Mr. Lapointe, through AUDEAMUS, is a leader in the effort to have a Canadian standard and certification system established for psychiatric service dogs, and he continues to work to ensure service dog treatment becomes a universal tool available to all Veterans in need. Mr. Lapointe’s dedication has provided a life-changing service for hundreds of Veterans.