Almaden Health and Rehabilitation Center is a 77-bed facility near the corner of Union Avenue and Los Gatos-Almaden Road. Patients may be recovering from surgery, injury, or stroke; some are there for long-term care. The staff is particularly friendly, not only welcoming our pets but also helping patients to interact with them. At present, only dogs are on this team. We hear that “doggie days” are big favorites with the Almaden patients and staff alike.

This is a Reading Buddies team and all pets must have passed the Reading Buddies evaluation class. The visits take place in a single large room so all pets will be in close proximity to other pets. This visit is about an hour in length. The team has a wonderful large room for our visit!

The Dr. Roberto Cruz Alum Rock Branch of the San Jose Public Library is a Reading Buddies Site. The visits take place in the multi-purpose room which has a direct entrance from the outside. Children of all ages are invited to snuggle up on a blanket and read to our pets. All animals are welcome! Volunteers must be 14 years old.

This is a Reading Buddies team and all pets must have passed the Reading Buddies evaluation class. Apostles Lutheran School consists of all grade levels through high school. Our Reading Buddies visit is with the 2nd-grade class and is a one-on-one timed reading session with a Furry Friend. The students rotate their reading based on a 3-4 minute reading time during the one hour visit time.

Atria Independent Living is a very nice senior and assisted living community with lots of trees and walkways. Our team visits the great room near where residents eat their lunch. Many residents here are dog lovers and enjoy having a chance to stop by get some dog time in, as well as a visit with the human volunteers. This group is very low key and a great option for new and experienced volunteers alike. Dogs of all breeds and sizes are welcome.

The Memory Care facility at Atria (Madrone House) is on the same grounds as the Independent Living units and is set amongst trees, manicured lawns and lush plants and trees. Our team visits residents either in an activities room inside the House or out on a patio behind the building, depending upon the weather. The basic objective of our visits is to provide an interaction between our pets and the residents. Pets of all shapes, sizes, and types are welcome.

The Bill Wilson Center is dedicated to collaborating with the community to guarantee that each young individual has access to a comprehensive array of services essential for their development into healthy and independent adults. Furry Friends engages with the youth at the Center every second Wednesday of the month. The presence of our Furry Friends not only improves their well-being, but also brings moments of laughter.

This is a Reading Buddies team and all pets must have passed the Reading Buddies evaluation class. Our team meets upstairs in the children’s library section. There are usually 40 plus children, ranging from babies to upper elementary children. Families have oral and silent readers, and children that just want to love the pups. There is a blend of homeschoolers, private, and public school children.Because there is always such a crowd, one child reads and others pet the dogs if that child gives permission so that everyone can have a turn. We could always use another member!

Cedar Creek is a 58 bed facility that offers specialized for people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Furry Friends visits are greatly enjoyed by both residents and staff! We meet in a large, cheerful activity room where residents can interact with us and the furry friends. We have dogs of all sizes on the team to accommodate those who wish to hold dogs or be able to just reach out and pat their heads. Residents often ask about cats and we would love to have a cat on the team sometime! This visit brings a lot of joy to the volunteers, staff, and residents. Faces light up when the dogs arrive!

Channing House is a charming Life Care Community in residential downtown Palo Alto, providing Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Skilled Nursing. Our Furry Friends team heads first to the Skilled Nursing floor where we walk around a room visiting residents who are in wheelchairs or sitting and who have memory issues and physical restrictions. The second part of our visit is with more independent residents, typically in the large activity center room, where pups and their humans walk around the room or just sit and chat in a relaxed setting.

Visits to the Main Jail facility occur on the 2nd and 8th floors in common areas. Two to four inmates come out at a time to visit with our animals. We are escorted by sheriff's deputies at all times. The inmates love seeing the dogs and so do the staff!

Courtyard Care Center is a 75-bed skilled nursing and rehab facility located near Valley Fair mall. Visits are room to room and we also visit folks in the activities room, lobby, and outdoor courtyard. Visits can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how many residents (and staff) want to visit the animals.

Creekview Health Center is adjacent to Stoneridge Creek retirement community and offers a variety of services, from dementia and other memory impairments to skilled nursing area as well as people living independently. Many residents are animal lovers and enjoy our Furry Friends pets. Our team visits the memory, skilled nursing, and independent living areas during each of our visits.

Crestwood Behavioral Health Inc. offers mental health clients and their families a continuum of care and treatment, from traditional psychiatric services to innovative recovery programs, geared towards community reintegration. The facility requires each volunteer to sign a Confidentiality Agreement essentially stating any personnel information learned about any of the residents is held confidential and not discussed outside the facility. Furry Friends visits two groups of residents on each visit. The first group consists of the general population which we meet either outdoors behind the main building in good weather or, when not appropriate, inside in a general meeting area. The other group consists of those residents considered to be in an acute need of treatment. We interact with them inside the main building. When pet therapy is brought into the center, all of the patients become very excited to interact with their new Furry Friend who will be giving them love and affection.

Cupertino Health and Wellness is located in a beautiful part of Cupertino. It is a residential facility plus a skilled nursing home. They provide many activities for the patients in addition to pet therapy visits. When Furry Friends comes to visit, seeing the animals puts a bright smile on the patients' faces. We are praised with many thank you's.

This is a Reading Buddies team, one of the first Reading Buddies teams that was established, and all pets must have passed the Reading Buddies evaluation class. We meet in a room in the children's section. The librarians are fantastic! Bookmarks are handed out to each child as well as a 'good reading' certificat, pictures are taken of the children at the end of their session with their reading pet, and the children write notes back to the pets. Very well organized visit and volunteers always have fun.

Elmwood Correctional facility is run by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and houses approximately 2000 medium and low security inmates. The Furry Friends team visits both the men's and the women's sections. Volunteers must fill out a security clearance form, have a background check, and be fingerprinted to obtain permission to visit.