Organization Profile

TREE House of Greater St. Louis

http://www.thstl.org

The mission of TREE House of Greater St. Louis is to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families through therapy, recreation, education, and exploration. We use equine-assisted therapy as the cornerstone of our program.

Therapy Sessions: Volunteers are actively assisting in individual and group equestrian activities by helping the staff prepare the horse for the lesson, leading the horse during the lesson, and/or directly assisting the rider with balance and exercises. Volunteers start as Sidewalkers, providing physical stability to the client. They may then train as Leaders, and then progress to Horse Handlers. Sidewalkers and Leaders must be able to run beside the horse at a trot while keeping the rider balanced.

Volunteers are also requested to clean and maintain the barn and the main building. Most program volunteers have a set schedule each week so they are working with the same clients each time. Other program volunteers act as floaters who respond to emails asking for help to fill empty volunteer spots for that week. This is a year-round program.

Minimum age to volunteer is 14.