Eleven years ago, my Mother read a startling fact. Twenty-two United States veterans took their own lives each and every day. When that humbling horrify-ing fact settled into her psyche, Joy’s course of life changed forever. She dedicated the rest of her life to changing that statistic. One vet at a time. 

Through the founding of Embrace A Vet in 2012, Joy worked tirelessly and exuberantly to support Maine veterans. Near and dear to her heart was the dog placement program within Embrace A Vet, Paws for Peace. Let me paint a picture of her full dedication and commitment to this dog program. 

In March 2016, days after Joy received her pancreatic cancer diagnosis out of absolutely nowhere, I raced to Maine with my then one-year-old daughter to be by her side. Cold and rainy outside, we were nestled on her yellow couch warm and cozy inside. As we began to talk, my mind was racing with details about her diag-nosis and what our plan of attack would be. But that wasn’t what Joy was interested in talking about. We had a dog to pick up. There was another well-deserving Maine veteran suffering from PTSD. We had work to do. 

We tossed my daughter Scouty in the car, went through the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru as was our cus-tom, ordered our coffee and butternut munchkins and hit the road. Up and back we went. Once home, we sat with Embrace A Vet’s new dog Sherlock, patiently waiting to arrange the meeting with his new family. Sherlock was not a lap dog. But that day he was. May-be he knew how much we needed him to heal our hearts. Or maybe he knew how his new owner was waiting for him to come and help heal his heart. Or maybe he just felt lucky to be sitting with Mom. What-ever it was, that giant Akita sat right on Joy’s lap, keep-ing her warm and loved. 

Mom’s Paws for Peace program changed people’s lives. It changed Mom’s life. It brought her alive and fed her soul. Embrace A Vet and Paws for Peace were true life-lines for Joy. She loved helping people. She loved mak-ing lives fuller and richer. She gave veterans dignity, hope and, most of all, unconditional love. 

Fast forward. Though she lost her own valiant battle with cancer in June 2016 when she was 70 years young, Mom’s passion lives on. It lives through Sherlock, through all the other dogs she personally placed and through the happy placements happening here in Maine today. Her incredible legacy is carried on through the great work of what is now Maine Paws for Veterans. She would have loved to know this name in-cludes the dogs that give so much hope to veterans. 

To honor her legacy of love and determination in the placement of dogs with Maine veterans, and in recogni-tion of the new name of the Embrace A Vet Paws for Peace Program, we are so thrilled to announce The Joy Jewett Johnson Founder’s Fund at Maine Paws for Vet-erans. It is an honor for my children, my husband, my father and my sister to make the first donation to this Founder’s Fund. 

Please consider joining us in giving to The Joy Jewett Johnson Founder’s Fund and supporting the legacy of her work with Maine Paws for Veterans. 

With gratitude, 

Ashley Johnson Techet