When Frank Schmidt met Evan Jandl at The Retreat Recovery Center (Wayzata, MN) in the spring of 2024, neither had any idea about the journey that they would begin together. A casual conversation about the difficulty in finding someone to care for their dogs while pursuing recovery treatment led to the founding of a project that might be the first of its kind in the country, not just the state of Minnesota.

“Our main thing is to take away that worry for people going to treatment. There are enough barriers in the way. We don’t need more. Dogs are like little family members, too,” Frank told me, explaining the basic principle behind their new non-profit business venture. “We don’t want people to have to worry about their dogs while they are in recovery. We want recovery to be their focus. Taking care of one’s animals is a gift to us and we want to make sure that we take care of them like they’re our own.”

Both Frank and Evan have their own personal stories on how they arrived at where they are today. Frank, in his early 50s, and Evan, in his late 20s, have different experiences, skills, and perspectives, but together they have found their “passion project.” Frank explains, “This [project] blends in all the things that we are passionate about: Recovery, animals and pets, service work [and] fellowship.”

That “passion project” is Serenity Kennel, a non-profit organization that promises to be more than just a kennel facility. Frank and Evan, who are both in a continuous recovery program, would also like the kennel to be used as a weekly meeting place for people to attend with their dogs. Frank adds, “There are so many people that like to go to meetings but can’t bring their dogs.”

The Journey

Evan grew up with two dogs and currently has two dogs of his own, Maggie and Buck. Frank started out with cats but now has a dog named Mia, so between them they have the experience of caring for animals.

Frank explains more about the challenges he had getting into recovery while caring for Mia, a problem he didn’t know existed until he was confronted with it. “My own personal story is that I couldn’t find a place for Mia and kept putting it off. It got worse for me and Mia. He says, “The window of opportunity for someone to go into treatment is pretty short. When they decide to go, we really want to take away barriers for that decision. It’s a big decision, an overwhelming decision, and it’s hard to ask for help. We figure that a sober owner is a better pet owner.”

The window of opportunity for someone to go into treatment is pretty short. When they decide to go, we really want to take away barriers for that decision. It’s a big decision, an overwhelming decision, and it’s hard to ask for help. We figure that a sober owner is a better pet owner.Frank has a different mindset these days than when he was younger. In his words, he “dabbled in treatment,” but he offers the following reflection: “This one is a whole different story for me. I found the contentment and peace that they talk about. I was a skeptic, but I believe it now. A lot of my journey has been through service work.”

Evan’s story is also one that many contemplating treatment can probably identify with. It took him a couple of years to get into treatment due to the difficulties he had in trying to find someone to care for his dogs. He recalls, “I looked across the entire country [for someone to take care of Maggie and Buck. I found one place in Texas, a guy who wasn’t a business. The guy was just nice enough to let you use his farm and he would go out and feed them. But it was the one place that I could find that was even remotely close. Otherwise there really was no option other than finding someone who was willing to watch the dogs.”

In talking about founding a kennel for those in treatment, Frank and Evan checked into options in the area. Their research just confirmed their own difficulties about finding a place to care for their dogs while attending treatment. “People won’t come [to treatment] as they can’t find spots for their animals. They had to move mountains in some people’s cases to find suitable lodging for their pets. A real good friend of mine had to surrender his dog because he couldn’t find anything,” Frank said and stressed that “Mia’s been part of my recovery journey too – always happy to see me, helps me go on walks and get outdoors.”

Evan expands, “There’s places that will set up foster care but there’s no facility. The closest thing is The Humane Society. [They] will give you sixty days to watch your dog or cat for a hospital stay, etc., and treatment is one of their umbrellas, but it’s not their main focus. When I called myself to try to get into treatment and have someone watch my dog, they were full as they have other things going on.”

That’s when they both decided that they wanted to be of service to this underserved community. “We are starting this mainly for service to others. If that’s what people need, that’s what we want to provide,” Frank confirms.

The Name

One of the most important things for a new business is its name. I wanted to know how they came up with an appropriate name for such a unique project. Frank answered with: “Finding a name that tells what we do.”

He turned to the Serenity Prayer for inspiration. “The Serenity Prayer is a big part of what I go to when things are stressful, and things are piling up. Serenity and peace of mind is what we want to provide as a kennel for those that are pursuing their treatment and their health. We were driving around visiting different kennels and it just popped up there!” Fortunately, the name was not registered, and they managed to get something that “was really unique for us.”

The Challenges

However, setting up a non-profit organization is not without its challenges. Neither Frank nor Evan have done this before. Yet they have done all of the initial legwork themselves: from researching other kennels, scouting locations, building a website, launching a Go Fund Me campaign to help with initial costs, and designing the logo of the company. Evan is the go-to guy who can fix things and run operations; Frank has a background in sales. Like any small business, being able to multi-task and learn new skill sets is part of the job description.

“It’s continuous,” Evan admits. Frank laughs and adds, “We’re not done yet!” Evan continues, “I know a lot more. We learned a lot together that I thought I would never know. And every time we start to dig further into an idea, three, four more questions pop up. It’s challenging just to make sure that we do everything right and we cover all of our bases so that we can do what we want to do.”

Frank states, “The main part was putting aside those fears of opening up a big bag of who knows what!”

Frank and Evan intend to follow some of the best practices of current kennel operations. They have done research about this with other kennels. For example, dogs who don’t socialize well with others will have their own area. To start with, they intend to have about twenty kennels for dogs. Depending on how things go, they may eventually accept other animals, but initially the focus will be caring for dogs, with which they both have experience.

The Mission

Frank and Evan came up with a mission statement, after hours of brainstorming:

“Empowering individuals pursuing chemical dependency treatment by providing community-supported dog kenneling.”

This statement provides the framework for their business. Frank explains, “Part of our mission is helping people who can’t afford it. We are going to be setting up something like an endowment or scholarship. That’s where we hope to get donations, not only for start-up, but to continue operations. If money’s an issue for somebody, we want to try to help with that, by reducing their out-of-pocked kenneling costs though scholarship funding.” Although they still have to figure out how to set this up, it is part of their core mission.

Another unique part of their business is to provide service opportunities. People who they’ve talked to about their project are enthusiastic about it and want to take part. They are hoping that some of this service work will lead to professionals wanting to volunteer: for example, a veterinarian visiting once a month to check on the animals, or a dog groomer to help those dogs that need it. Other volunteers for dog walking and general care will be needed and very much appreciated.

How It Works

Frank and Evan plan to keep the dogs at Serenity Kennel as long as someone is in a treatment program, regardless of the duration. They plan to run Serenity Kennel like any other kennel facility where the owner is responsible for vet services and food (although they could provide food if the owner was unable to for any reason). However, they want to help a person with funding if they can’t cover the cost.

Evan explains more: “The standard treatment we figure is thirty days, sometimes sixty days, so that’s kind of the baseline of what we are expecting. I moved into a sober living house for six months; my dog went to a boarding facility, and I paid their fee. It was a large amount of money and so we’ve talked about if we can set them up with a foster or a longer-term situation. Our main focus is the initial thirty days/sixty days for treatment. But I know that I could have benefited from something longer term, and if someone thought that they could be more successful if they did sober living, then we can help.”

Frank adds that he is hoping that they can forge a partnership with an organization that can help with longer-term placements so that Serenity Kennel can keep spaces open for immediate help. One possible candidate is the Pink Cloud Foundation, a place that provides sober living and foster dog assistance.

How You Can Help

Serenity Kennel is yet to find a home. They would ideally like to find a suitable location in the Twin Cities or surrounding seven-county metro area. Their goal is to open in 2025. A big opening week celebration is planned. Such as an open house, merchandise giveaways, and a fundraising party with live music.

Frank and Evan are thinking about additional revenue streams such as merchandise and dog training classes, to help raise money for the scholarship fund. However, raising initial start-up costs through their Go Fund Me campaign is their primary goal at this stage. They are currently registered as a non-profit organization and working through the paperwork to get 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status. This, they hope, will encourage more donations and interest from foundations.

Frank and Evan are looking to appoint a Board of Directors of about eleven people, which should help them a lot in overall management; they are looking for people with business, accounting, human resources, legal, fund-raising, and non-profit experience. They currently have an experienced business professional on the Board helping with start-up and structure.  Frank says, “We want talented, passionate people who are looking to build this.”

In closing, Frank summed up the whole purpose of their mission: “There are no options for someone to say, ‘I just need a safe place for my dog so I can go get help.’ Either people are having to give up their dogs or they delay or refuse treatment. It’s a bad situation for those people and their pets to be in. It’s a part of the community that we’d like to help support.”

To learn more about Serenity Kennel, and to donate, visit:

• Serenity Kennel Go Fund Me: https://gofund.me/5414eac8
• Serenity Kennel website: https://serenitykennel.org/
• Email: info@serenitykennel.org

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Sharon Chapman is a published author and editor with over fifteen years’ experience. She is the published author of Authentic Aromatherapy (New York: Skyhorse Publishing) and editor in chief for various US publications. Learn more about her freelance writing, editing, and publishing services.

Last Updated on November 12, 2024