USA: Wolf Connection and Inclusive, Safe Spaces for All

Founders and Key People

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Fig. 2.

Teo Alfero, Founder.

Wolf Connection was founded in 2009 by Teo Alfero (see Fig. 2). Originally from Argentina, Teo moved to California in 1999. He comes from a family of educators and legislators who have supported youth development in his native country. Embracing those values, Teo developed a passion to reach out to young people in need of mentoring and guidance. Over the years, he has been a court advocate with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programme, a registered foster father, a trainer for the Safe School Ambassadors programme and a mentor and a life coach for adolescents and young adults. In his private coaching practice, Teo has specialised in working with boys from various social backgrounds, guiding them into a constructive dialogue to express themselves and find ways to deal with their personal life challenges.

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Fig. 3.

Tala, Co-founder.

Wolf Connection, being consistent with its values of the human–animal engagement, lists Tala (see Fig. 3) as the co-founder of Wolf Connection. We include her here to be true to the spirit of the organisation, as Teo describes her enduring presence: ‘Tala now rests at the Wolf Heart Ranch, overlooking the pack she created’.

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Fig. 4.

Renee Alfero – Lead of Animal Behaviour.

Teo and Renee married in 2013 and have worked together in developing the wolf sanctuary and its interconnected programmes. As Lead of Animal Behaviour, Renee (see Fig. 4) oversees the socialisation of the rescued wolf dogs and general caretaking training for volunteers. Renee also works with the programmes team by facilitating the animal/human connection to maximise Wolf Connection's programming. Renee trained at Moorpark College's Exotic Animal Training and Management programme with continued hands-on medical experience as a veterinary technician.

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Fig. 5.

Dr Amanda Beer – Director of Programs.

Amanda is a licenced psychologist and educator, and at Wolf Connection she collaborates with the wolf pack and human programme team to facilitate powerful opportunities for awareness, connection, healing and growth. Amanda (see Fig. 5) earned her PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her clinical training and experience has focused on multicultural competence, group interventions and mindfulness-based approaches to wellness. At a postdoctoral level, she has engaged in intensive training focused on psychological trauma and healing. Consistent with her commitment to social justice as a therapist, she has presented and published several empirical studies focused on social, cultural and training issues (including inmates' experiences, White privilege and multicultural learning environments).

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Fig. 6.

Ree Merrill – Director of Development.

Ree's (see Fig. 6) role at the sanctuary is multi-layered and, in many ways, exemplifies the multiplicity of roles taken up by the staff. She is also a testament to the healing efficacy of the programmes. Her primary role as Director of Development positions her as a lynchpin for many of the key activities of Wolf Connection. The sanctuary continually interconnects its operations with a non-profit status, which shapes several of its business strategies and processes. As such, there is extensive networking involved across a range of stakeholders, external agencies (both government and private) and the general public. Ree's background in the entertainment industry (for over 12 years in NYC as an actress and screenwriter) enables her to engage these different constituents as well as understand the uniqueness of the sanctuary as a business. A part of her personal history also aligns with Wolf Connection's core business of dealing with health and trauma. Just days before moving to California, she underwent a serious health issue involving extensive treatment. It was during her recovery that she decided to volunteer at Wolf Connection. Working with the wolves, she saw a strength in herself that she hadn't previously realised was there. She started working in the programmes and has witnessed the deep transformation in the youth participants in particular.

Organisational Structure and Description, Size of Organisation and Key Attributes of Organisation

Wolf Connection ranch is based on 165 acres in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest, an hour North of Los Angeles. This land was purchased in 2015 and subsequently occupied in 2016, expanding the original site threefold. Wolf Connection is financed by private donations, public admissions and by school districts and foster-care agencies that pay for the youth programmes. It has a total staff of 26, including the leadership team which is comprised of: the founder Teo Alfero; his wife/partner Renee Alfero, Lead of Animal Behaviour; Dr Amanda Beer, Director of Programs; Ree Merrill, Director of Development; Annette Golden, Director of Operations; Elena Albanese, Manager of Pack Services; and Claralynn Schnell, Executive Assistant. There are also nine staff members, covering areas of education, animal health, programming, podcasting, video and promotional materials and volunteering. There are also several volunteers, many of whom are previous participants in the programmes.

The organisation achieves remarkable efficiency through its structural processes, with specialised roles performing identified key processes (as one would expect). However, what is a somewhat unique attribute of the organisational system is the way in which staff will engage with other activities of the programmes and wolf care. For example, for the authors' visit, Ree Merill led the hike with the wolves, explained the care of the animals and the role of the environment and spoke on the history of the sanctuary and its future plans. In short, she was able to articulate all facets of the sanctuary, from its business model to each wolf's story, from the therapeutic principles of the programmes to the way the natural environment is such an integral component of what is done. This deep knowledge of the organisation is a significant aspect to the business model itself. The sanctuary itself would perhaps describe this as modelling a pack identity, just as each wolf in the pack has a specific role and responsibilities, they will also fill the other needs of the pack as required.

SDG#11.4 – Protecting Cultural Heritage

This target aligns with actions on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage. Wolf Connection has a distinctive vision in this regard, recognising that natural heritage is inherently embedded in cultural heritage and that there is an inseparable bond between humanity and the natural world. Even more than this, Wolf Connection aligns all its programmes with the philosophy that the natural heritage is imperative to both mental and physical well-being. Of note in this regard is the efficacy of the at-risk youth programme which involves taking students from very difficult and challenging home and school environments and working with them in the natural environment. In doing so, they gain an appreciation of the natural world, and their role in preserving it. Many go on to engage with how cultural heritage can play a major role in social integration. One of the most striking spaces (and in many ways, metaphors) at the sanctuary that exemplifies this is the Medicine Wheel (see Fig. 8).

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Fig. 8.

Medicine Wheel at the Sanctuary.

Participants stand in and alongside the wheel's directions, reflecting on past difficulties to move towards a stronger future. The Medicine Wheel itself is drawn from Native American culture and its presence at the sanctuary is an enacting of the protection of cultural heritage, particularly of the five tribes living in the region prior to European occupation, namely Tongva, Tataviam, Chumash, Kitanemuk and Serrano. As the National Library of Medicine summarises, the Medicine Wheel is ubiquitous to many Native American tribes:

The Medicine Wheel, sometimes known as the Sacred Hoop, has been used by generations of various Native American tribes for health and healing. It embodies the Four Directions, as well as Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree—all of which symbolize dimensions of health and the cycles of life. The Medicine Wheel can take many different forms. It can be an artwork such as artifact or painting, or it can be a physical construction on the land. Hundreds or even thousands of Medicine Wheels have been built on Native lands in North America over the last several centuries.

(National Library of Medicine, n.d.)

Wolf Connection's creation and implementation of the Medicine Wheel both preserves cultural symbols and practices, as well as engages with traditional systems of thinking to empower individuals and groups.

SDG#11.7.1 – Open Spaces in Cities

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Fig. 9.

Ree Merrill With Theo ¹ .

This indicator measures how the relationship between a city and the open spaces in and around it is utilised and planned for public use for all, and in particular by sex, age and persons with disabilities. There is a strong link between the natural environment of Wolf Connection (see Fig. 9), with its open spaces, forested areas and trails, and the nearby city of Los Angeles, as well as peri-urban areas (such as Palmdale, Acton and Antelope Valley). Los Angeles is the primary originating location for the general public visitors, and as such the sanctuary creates open spaces for city dwellers; many of the programme participants (most notably the at-risk youths) come from the peri-urban, smaller cities and communities located in closer proximity to the sanctuary. The communities that visit the sanctuary do so in this context of shared open spaces and as an escape from the large city environs of L.A. What makes this somewhat distinctive is that the sanctuary works carefully and consistently to embed visitors in the wolves' natural environment. All programmes and visits are built around this idea that people are entering the wolves' ‘home’. This is crucial to how the programmes operate, that is, as immersive ecosystems to enable people to experience the natural world so close to the city. This connection and simultaneous distinction of the sanctuary's space(s) to the city is important as it foregrounds the necessity to preserve these natural, open environments.

Of particular note, the eight-week programme for at-risk youths foregrounds the natural ecosystem as one for healing and self-contemplation. The programme makes a direct connection between the natural world and the student's sense of belonging. This produces pro-environmental behaviour as well as an increased capacity to manage and control the travails of life back in the students' emotionally complex life in the city and urban areas. These students come from extremely challenging backgrounds, including expulsion schools, and face the prospect of being placed in a juvenile detention centre. The at-risk programme demonstrates not just intervention in these troubled lives, but also a high rate of preventing recidivism. By foregrounding the preservation of the natural world, the programme also instils in the participants the need to be environmentally aware and enact change to safeguard it.

SDG#11.7.1 Safe Spaces in Cities

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Fig. 10.

A Participant in the Student Programme, With Wolf.

This indicator engages with issues related to victims of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence. A key aspect of this is to measure and help support the provision of universal access to safe, inclusive and available, green and public spaces in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities (see Fig. 10). This goal is particularly relevant to Wolf Connection, informing a range of strategies for the programmes it runs, the concepts and practices of empowerment for individuals and groups that have been disenfranchised, traumatised and/or alienated through events in their lives. Wolf Connection actively engages with creating a safe, healing environment, allowing people to regain strength after suffering from systemic prejudicial issues. This is demonstrated most tangibly in the programmes offered by the sanctuary, often in collaboration with outside agencies. By way of illustration, the following summarises programmes that demonstrate the safe spaces of the sanctuary created to counter the travails of the participants' lives:

The Resiliency Program for Women Veterans collaborates with Military Veteran Affairs Department to provide six weekly sessions for women veterans. The programme recognises that women in the armed forces are often subjected to potentially traumatising abuse within the system as well as the anxieties of deployment. Two statements from past participants speak to this:

From an explosive-disposal unit service member

The hardest part of coming back home was to be rejected by people because of the way I look. I gave everything for them and their families, and I never thought this would happen. Being unconditionally accepted and loved by Willow (one of the wolves) has literally changed my life. I feel a huge weight releasing off my chest, as if one of my lungs was missing too and now I have it back.

From a veteran battling depression and homelessness

As crazy and chaotic as the deployment was, I find civilian life a lot crazier. There is no ROE (rules of engagement) here. I am anxious all the time, more than I was in Afghanistan. But after a day here with the wolves, I feel like I have a pack again. I feel they understand me.

The Women and Wolves Program is a ten-week immersive programme that has a global dimension. Women from around the globe meet weekly to engage with ideas through lessons, culminating with an in-person retreat at Wolf Heart Ranch for women and wolves to connect in real-time. Previous participant's comments echo the intent of SDG#11 in terms of safe space and the natural environment:

This observation is mine and mine alone. Each wolf shares their stories in unique and individual ways to the humans who take the time to listen. What I have suffered and endured does not define me, but it is a part of me. It’s in the scars, some visible and some not. I was afraid before. I was scared to lose what made me whole. What would I become when so much was taken from me? Am I half of the woman that I used to be? I see you, Annie [a wolf], brave… the warrior having lost a limb, but still rooted in your self-confidence. I see you, not less than because of your loss, but more. How do we know what we can conquer until we are faced with having to do it? The strength it took to overcome was inside of you all along… inside of me, too. I didn’t have to think about it, it was there, inside, waiting to rise. It was waiting for the moment to show itself. Thank you, Annie, for the reminder that this survivor was a survivor all along. You are a beacon of light shining out showing us all what “being whole” really means”. A breast cancer survivor on what she learned from Annie. (a three-legged wolf)

Other participants have said:

The Women and Wolves program promised an experience that will create a safe space to grow and find the magic and fire within us. My experience as a participant in Women and Wolves most definitely did exactly that. I left the retreat on the final day enchanted with the possibilities the future holds. The entire experience blessed me with more knowledge, peace, forgiveness, vision, self respect, friendship, curiosity, love, magic, fire, grace, and grit.

I sit here with tears in my eyes as I think about my experience in Women and Wolves. To say that this program is life-changing seems like an understatement. I feel like I will never be the same person again, in a good way.

I’ve developed the courage and confidence to step into new roles and move through deep blockages.

The following two comments are from the student researchers for this chapter, included here to reflect the impact of these stories and experiences on a new generation whose lives will be most directly impacted by the United Nations' sustainability goals:

The vulnerability shown by the wolves has been demonstrated through countless individuals, who have transformed their lives after visiting the sanctuary. The experience is life-changing, leaving many personalities unrecognizable after the challenging process. Not only are these people bettering themselves through a wolf connection, but this connection is reshaping the wolf narrative for this generation.

–Ali Davenport

Something that really stuck out to me was Ree’s description of the therapy, when she explained that people with a history of trauma, abuse, or neglect were interacting with wolves that had also experienced trauma or neglect. A quote from our interview with Ree that I immediately wrote down was “If the wolves can get through the trauma, so can I;” I thought this was such a beautiful way to describe the therapy, as mutually beneficial between the two parties working together through their individual trauma.

–Sophia Mall

What Next for Wolf Connection and SDG#11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

The future plans for Wolf Connection indicate even stronger alignment with the sustainable development goals, particularly as the family business expands its care of the environment, thus preserving green space for all. The sanctuary has doubled in size every year since 2010, strategically developing space that fosters the various programmes with people and wolves. The new developments (funded largely through donations) include:

• Overnight and weekly stays, to allow for more in-depth work in the programmes. This will significantly improve the efficacy of the programmes by developing more immersive activities. Building the levels of trust, and thus group identity, is a key process in community formation. This is particularly apposite to the individuals involved as they come from highly urbanised areas with little access to green space. One of the greatest challenges that Wolf Connection has faced is meeting the increased demand for places in its programmes.

• A residential facility for youth transitioning into independent living. This will be a core development for the programmes focused on at-risk youth, linking the participants to strategies for caring for the self by caring for their own, and wider, environment. Many of the participants in these particular programmes face the difficulties of uncertain housing. By providing residential facilities, these youth will gain skills for a more independent future.

• A retreat centre where youth and families from all walks of life can find healing and hope. Wolf Connection's programmes to provide support to participants by giving access to the natural world mirrors this core SDG#11 driver of care for healing the environment. Wolf Connection prioritises actions that enable those involved to make the link between their own conditions and backgrounds and the wider natural environment. This is a further aspect to Wolf Connection's commitment to healing through immersion.

• Gathering and creative rooms to foster awareness of sustainability issues. This will serve as a primary driver in the teaching and understanding of the imperative need for sustainability and living more sustainable lives. This philosophy is embedded in all aspects of Wolf Connection, and this initiative will serve to further develop initiatives and activities strongly tied to these SDGs.

• Outdoor teaching and gathering areas. All aspects of the programmes involve the immersion in the natural environment. This is an expansion of the activities that define Wolf Connection's unique interpretation of SDG#11. The family business maintains the philosophy that the participants of its programmes must spend all their time outside in the natural spaces of the sanctuary. This is where the strength of the programme lies – working within the green spaces so different from the urban world.

• Two more state-of-the-art wolf compounds in addition to the existing one. This can be seen as both an increase in numbers of participants and also further preservation of the natural environment and access to it. These additional wolf areas also reflect the need to care for more wolves. At the time of writing, Wolf Connection had taken in an additional 10 wolves.

These developments demonstrate how the sanctuary is effectively aligning its core business activities with environmental awareness and integrating sustainability goals into its programmes of well-being. This is particularly the case with issues of mental health, social justice and bettering the lives of those alienated and abandoned by much of society. This is where Wolf Connection demonstrates its unique vision of therapy and well-being through the human–wolf interaction.