Tiffany and K-9 Lainey

My name is Tiffany, I grew up in a law enforcement family and was surrounded by law enforcement my entire life. I’ve always known I wanted to follow in my mom and sisters foot steps as a police officer or some type of my public service, since a young age.

Unfortunately, at a young age I started to struggle with addiction and couldn’t seem to get my life together until later in life, and eventually walked out on the other side of things.

I currently work part time in law enforcement in the cities and full time at a “normal” job. But most of my background is in hospital security, where I worked in a hospital setting in downtown Saint Paul and then downtown Minneapolis. Over the last couple years as things evolved in the twin cities, I started seeing and going through things at work that I would never wish upon anyone.

I found myself isolating from people and the outside world. I often brushed off traumatic incidents and hard days by thinking “tomorrow is a new day”. I didn’t realize how much it started to push me away from my daughter, family and friends until I was confronted about it. I was becoming numb and lost faith in humanity and would take it out on those around me.

Ever since I started my journey in recovery, I have been proactive in my therapy and using the support around me. Except I was getting to a place where therapy wasn’t always helpful as the chaotic days at work were building up.

I’ve known Dana for almost 10 years as we worked together as reserve officers and from day 1, she has always supported me in hard times. I watched Soldiers 6 unfold and become what it is today. Over the last few months, I knew I was still needing more support, to keep myself in recovery and for my mental health. I never thought I was a good recipient for a service dog or that I didn’t qualify, until talking with my therapist and eventually reaching out to Dana during a bad day. There was no hesitation to help me and my family and brought Lainey into my life.