Community Involvement Scott Savage Community Involvement Scott Savage

What A Difference A Year Makes: SJS Puppy

SJS began sponsoring an Assistance Dog at The Ability Center in Sylvania, Ohio. Assistance Dogs help individuals with disabilities achieve greater independence.

In 2024, SJS began sponsoring an Assistance Dog at The Ability Center in Sylvania, Ohio. Assistance Dogs help individuals with disabilities achieve greater independence by aiding with the individual's daily needs.

SJS was tasked with naming a puppy born to a litter at The Ability Center. We recently visited Lira, who has grown by leaps and bounds. While still early in her training, we are hopeful that she will remain on track to become a service dog, skilled companion dog, or school facility dog. Training and placement is usually completed by age 2.

The trainers are gifted specialists and do a phenomenal job. The Ability Center is always grateful for the volunteers who step up to foster the dogs. Their need for volunteers never ends.

We are lucky to have such a great organization in our area. To find out more about The Ability Center, you can visit abilitycenter.org.



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Community Involvement Scott Savage Community Involvement Scott Savage

Our Family Has Grown By Four Feet!

One of The Ability Center’s services is the Assistance Dog training program, which helps individuals with disabilities achieve greater independence.

Community is one of our Words of the Year at SJS. Our team members, individually and collectively, strive to put our communities first.

In this spirit, we recently donated to The Ability Center to support their Assistance Dog program. As detailed on their website, The Ability Center works to make our community the most disability friendly in the nation by increasing independence for people with disabilities, discovering true passions, and changing the community’s perception of disability.

One of their services is the Assistance Dog training program, which helps individuals with disabilities achieve greater independence by training and placing service and skilled companion dogs to aid with the individual’s daily needs. The Ability Center has also placed over 30 school facility dogs as well.

The SJS Team took on the task of naming one of the puppies. Jennifer Smiljanich, Managing Director in our Scottsdale office, submitted the winning name, Lira. Our Team also had the fun opportunity to meet Lira and her siblings.

The Ability Center is doing fantastic work serving our community. If you would like to learn more about The Ability Center, you can visit abilitycenter.org.

Katie Floyd and Katie Cristofoli overrun by active pups.

Ryan Walter taking one for the team.

Lira playing with her toy.


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