MINNEAPOLIS — Addiction and recovery is a subject that's quite personal to many Minnesotans. The Department of Health says more people are in need of recovery, suggesting 290,000 people need treatment.
There can be reasons to put off going to treatment, but two friends are removing one big barrier.
Frank Schmidt is inseparable from his pup, Mia, who's part Jack Russell. He says he brings patience and “unconditional love.”
“For me, day by day, they are there still when I get home, they keep me on a schedule, remind me what to do,” Evan Jandl said. “I don't have a wife or kids, but I have someone to take care of at my house when I go home.”
The two friends, who met last spring, have a lot in common.
“We both had dogs, we hit it off really well,” Schmidt said.
It was a well-timed friendship. They both had chosen to prioritize their health and fight addiction, checking in to the Retreat in Wayzata.
“I recognized I needed to go, but this [the dogs] was my reason not to,” Jandl said.
He finally went in because a generous kennel owner with a son in recovery agreed to watch them for free.
“We just talked about the struggle of finding a place to keep our pets while we are trying to get better and we believe that sober owners are probably better pet owners as well,” Schmidt said.
As they worked on their recovery, they worked on an idea to open a kennel for people in treatment to have care for their pups.
“We want to run an A-plus kennel, we want to make sure these dogs are taken care of,” Schmidt said.
The two are working to remove a barrier.
“Going to treatment is a big decision and people can make excuses not to go, real or imagined,” Schmidt said. “We always said, this is cliché, but if we could help one person it would be worth the time.”
They've spent much of their time over the past few months putting it together. They are now looking for fosters to watch dogs while people are in treatment. They are also looking for land to build the kennel.
One thing they easily found was a name, Serenity — an ode to the prayer they recite every day as part of recovery — a way of life they hope to share.
“This is something that got in my way and we want to take that away from people so they can get the help they need and then be better pet owners,” Jandl said.
Serenity Kennels is taking off, but they still need major financial backing from individuals or corporations.
To check out the group and its resources, Serenity Kennel has a website and a Facebook page
