One of the most popular faces at the St. Mary Rainbows site in Huntley, IL is not one of their facilitators, but she offers a tremendous amount of support in her own way. "May" is an 11-year old therapy dog that Rainbows facilitator, Steve Schwertfeger, has owned since she was two months old. When his mom was in the hospital toward the end of her life, Steve would tell her stories about May to cheer her up. Later, an opportunity presented to train May as a therapy dog. Realizing the healing benefit dogs can provide to people in various ways, Steve jumped at the chance and found that May was a natural. She is a now regular participant in every meeting of Steve's Rainbows Level 3 group. Trained to provide therapy to residents in nursing homes and hospitals, May's latest gig is helping children in  Rainbows.

"Seeing how much of an impact May makes on people really makes my day," Steve says.

May was initially brought to a Celebrate Me Day at St. Mary, where several of their groups joined together to recognize the hard work the children had put into healing, and to celebrate their accomplishments. The facilitators figured the Celebrate Me Day would be a good place to bring the dog since it is more of a party atmosphere and it might be fun to have an animal for the children to enjoy. They became a bit concerned, however, when they discovered that one little boy was very fearful of dogs. Steve cautiously worked with the boy, slowly encouraging him to try petting gentle May. By the end of the party, the boy was playing with her like an old friend and had completely overcome his initial fright.

Ann Marcheschi, lead facilitator at St. Mary, says she feels having May there can even help some of the parents and caregivers when they drop off their child at Rainbows for the first time.

"It can be intimidating," she explains, "walking into a room full of strangers, not knowing exactly what you signed up for or whether you can trust these people with your child. When they see May, though, they generally feel more at ease. Suddenly they are smiling and petting the dog, and their nervousness just seems to go away. She's a great icebreaker for that first meeting."

"Several times during our Rainbow sessions, I have seen children just walk away from our group discussion and go sit next to May and pet her for several minutes," Steve shares. "I never ask them why they left; perhaps during our discussion a bad memory came up and leaving was a way for them to handle the feeling in a way that they could accept."

It is well known that animals can provide comfort to people in distress. While it is not surprising how much May is beloved at St. Mary, it is rather astonishing just how much of an impact she has had on children who are not even in Steve's group. Children in other groups who meet at the same time often bring treats for "their dog," hoping for time to pet and stroke her soft fur. The simple act of petting such a gentle, loving animal provides comfort to children who are often feeling very uncomfortable.

	Merlin, the therapy horse, in the church's foyer

When they saw the effect May had, the parish church generously offered to pay to also bringin a therapy pony from a nearby therapy center to work with the Rainbows groups. While the pony is too small for the children to ride, she is just perfect for petting and even little enough to come indoors in their tiled foyer when the weather turns cold!

If your site is interested in bringing in a therapy animal, Rainbows HQ encourages you to find out what is in your community. There may be a place you can partner with to bring in animals, often at little to no cost, to offer that unique support only they can provide. Please be sure to seek permission from parents and caregivers ahead of time, just in case there are allergies or other issues of which to be aware, but overall therapy animals can often be a tremendous benefit to children in Rainbows.