Meet Stormy & River

They may not be employees, but Stormy and River have an important role helping  one of our staff members in Easterseals-Goodwill’s Behavioral Health program. They are Justin Humber’s service animals, helping Justin both at work at home.

Having completed master’s degrees in both psychology and clinical mental health counseling , Justin is now a clinician in our Mountain Home, Idaho office. Justin had experienced past trauma, so his service animals are specially trained to watch for visual and body language cues. Then, they alert Justin when his anxiety increases and to respond by climbing onto Justin like a weighted blanket.

For four years, Stormy has been coming to work with Justin. Soon after starting, Stormy was so well trained that she began noticing when clients were experiencing the same type of anxiety. “Stormy was able to pick up the cues when clients were uncomfortable or anxious,” said Justin. “Just having her there sometimes helps clients relax. She’s became very much loved by a lot of clients.” When Stormy developed a health condition that would require an early retirement as a service animal, it was hard on both Justin and clients who had loved and cared for Stormy. That’s when Justin began training River. Now six months old, River is quickly becoming an excellently trained service dog. “While it’s not unique to have a service animal, you don’t always see it in the workplace,” says Justin.