Dogs Come to School to Help Comfort Young Students Affected by the Eaton Fire

Dogs come to school to help comfort young students affected by the Eaton fire, and it’s such a blessing as the weight of loss hangs heavy, as ash settles after a fire. It lingers in the quiet moments, in the way children’s fingers grip their pencils a little tighter, in the way their shoulders curve inward when the air turns too still. When a fire sweeps through a place you love, your school, your home, it doesn’t just take the buildings. It takes the familiar, the safe, the known.

But then, in the middle of all that loss, come paws padding gently into the uncertainty. Big brown eyes full of knowing. Fur soft enough to hold sorrow. The therapy dogs at Saint Mark’s School don’t ask questions. They don’t need words. They just show up, right in the middle of the mess, the grief, the rebuilding. And maybe that’s what healing looks like. Just something warm to hold onto when everything else has burned away.

The Saint Mark’s School Students Had to Relocate

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Jennifer Foley Tolbert, the head of the school, knows this kind of healing firsthand. She lost her home in the Eaton Fire, just across the street from the school.

“It was devastating because not only did I come to know that we had lost our school campus but also my home,” Jennifer said. But even in the heartbreak, she sees the light. “To see the kids each day, their resilience, their joy, it just empowers all of us to keep going.”

Going means waking up each morning in a new place, and adjusting to borrowed classrooms and unfamiliar hallways. After the fire, the 240 Saint Mark’s School students relocated to EF Academy in Pasadena. But transition is never easy, especially when it isn’t your choice.

The Dogs Arrived

Then the dogs arrived.

Monica Gillespe, who works with North County San Diego Love on a Leash, coordinated the effort to bring therapy dogs from San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. More than a dozen dogs, tails wagging, noses nudging small hands, came to do what they do best: offer comfort without condition.

“You right away see their body language change,” Monica said. “A smile, how can you not smile when a dog comes in? And then you actually experience an emotional relief when you're petting the dogs.”

Jennifer has seen the way the dogs lift the children’s spirits. “It's such a joy today to have these therapy dogs on campus, you know, to see the hope and to see the bright light that it brings to the kids' faces,” she said.

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Some of the Kids Did Lose Their Homes

Hope. Light. The very things fire tried to take.

Adrian, a sixth grader, had been missing his friends. “Very nice, yeah,” he said, smiling. “Yeah, it was kind of worrying not to see them so much.”

For Gianna, another sixth grader, the loss is personal. She lost her home in the fire and now lives in La Crescenta. Displacement is lonely, even when people rally around you. But the dogs don’t let you feel alone. They come close, press their warm bodies against yours, and remind you what it feels like to be grounded. To be safe.

Dogs Can Teach Us How to Keep Going

Maybe that’s why dogs are called man’s best friend. Not just because they love us, but because they teach us how to keep going. They don’t dwell on what was lost; they just sit beside us in the waiting. In the healing. In the in-between spaces where sorrow and joy mix together.

A school can be rebuilt. A house can be replaced. But the love, the comfort, the presence of a dog on a hard day, sometimes, that’s what makes all the difference.

And maybe, healing starts with something as simple as a wagging tail and a willing heart.

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The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

WATCH: Dogs Come to School to Help Comfort Young Students Affected by the Eaton Fire

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Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.