The Brief
- Chad’s Promise was created to help provide free boarding for veterans’ dogs during hospital stays.
- Landry and his co-founder say their nonprofit is likely the only one that’s carrying out this mission throughout Central Florida.
- Landry envisions a future where this program is available near every VA facility.
Plant City, Fla. – The nonprofit, Chad’s Promise, is unique in that it offers a free safe haven for dogs while their veteran owners are in the hospital. Chad Landry and his partner, Tracy Swinscoe, run a dog training business in Plant City.
The backstory:
“I joined the Army in 2001, two months after 9/11,” said Landry. As an Army veteran, Landry was well-connected with other veterans who needed help boarding their dogs during hospital stays for medical or mental health treatments. Thus, their nonprofit, Chad’s Promise, was born.
“I always ask, Why do you need help? Is the VA not paying for that? Or you can’t board, or you don’t have friends or family?’ These guys are transplants from other states; sometimes they don’t know anybody here, and the dog is the only thing they have,” he said.…