Phil Here: What My Birthday Wish Has To Do With Underwear & Cuddles
It’s me, Phil!
Today is my favorite day of the year — it’s my birthday! I’ve got the day off (finally!) after working my tail off this year. My days at the OFP office are spent sleeping on the sofa, visiting my office pals, and getting to sit in my mom’s therapy sessions.
But even on my day off, I can’t stop thinking about the people we’ve helped this year.
So far in 2025, my team and I worked with 959 disaster survivors. I sat in on numerous therapy sessions (may have slept through some of them), counted 752 pairs of underwear and socks for families in crisis, and gave infinite snuggles while my mom and our team talked with clients, insurance adjusters, and fire departments.
Let me tell you about a few of my friends — or as my mom calls them, “Phil’s clients.”
Meet Mary & Kat
Every time Mary and her daughter Kat come into the office, I know it’s going to be a good day. Kat always has a stuffed animal I try and take. Mary gives the best belly rubs!
But their story is really hard to listen to.
Mary and her family lost their entire home only 3 weeks after having her baby. Unfortunately, Mary’s two beloved German Shepherds were home at the time and passed away. Mary talks a lot about this in her sessions. Mom is trying to help her feel better and tells her, “You survived the worst, now we’ll revisit parts of that day to help you heal.” When I hear that line, that is my cue to cuddle into Mary.
"The fire changed my life, and I still can't see a way out. I should be celebrating being a new mom, not grieving this loss."
It’s hard for her to talk about her pups — but when she does, I quietly scoot over, rest my head on her knee, and stay close. She always pets me while she talks, and I know it helps. One day, she said: “Phil is the first dog I’ve petted since losing my pups. He’s the best part of coming to therapy.” That made my tail wag so hard it almost knocked baby Kat out. Don't worry, she laughed!
Here’s the thing: there are so many families like Mary and Kat. They’ve lost everything — sometimes even their pets. But thanks to you, they find comfort, support, and a little paw-shaped healing at Our Front Porch.
Today, for my birthday (the big 9!), I’m asking for something special: I want to raise $900 today to help my therapy clients. You can do that by making a one-time donation or a monthly donation to help families recovering from home fires. Your support means more therapy sessions, more fresh undies (humans seem to love those), more warm hugs, and way more cuddles from me! If we hit our donation goal, I’m pretty sure that makes me Employee of the Month… again!
Thanks for being part of my pack. You make this work possible. And hey, maybe next year, we’ll celebrate my birthday together.
With love (and lots of dog hair),
Chief Dog Officer Phil 🐾