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04/13/2022 08:30 AMOne day, Erin Kanicki decided to take her new pup, a French bulldog named Nola, to Bailey’s Dog Park in Clinton. While she was at the park, Erin heard there was a need for fundraising to help with maintenance at the park. Erin decided to help get the ball rolling and as of February is the chair of the newly formed Friends of Bailey’s Dog Park organization.
Erin says she filed the paperwork to start the nonprofit in fall 2021 and got the confirmation that it was successfully registered in January of 2022. The Friends of Bailey’s Dog Park is an entity that is not associated with the town, Erin stresses.
“Parks and Rec assumes the liability and are the owners of the property,” Erin says. “Our role is solely to spread around the rules and regulations and then raise funds for the betterment and upkeep of the park.”
Erin says the idea for the nonprofit came about as a result of her frequent trips to the park with Nola.
“In the beginning we went a lot on the weekends. Then when the pandemic hit, it was a way to get out of the house and I’d go for an hour after work on weekdays, too,” Erin says.
“I heard from some people that there have been two or three projects brought up before to the town, like building a shelter for people in inclement weather, building a higher fence, and leveling the ground in one section,” says Erin. “But it turned out that all three projects would require significantly more funds than people had anticipated.”
By this point Erin had become a regular at the dog park and had been looking for ways to get involved and help with fundraising for the park. So, she decided to establish the nonprofit friends of organization to help with that goal.
“I thought not being a nonprofit might prohibit us from raising as much funds as possible,” says Erin,
According to Erin, there are several advantages to the Friends of Bailey’s Dog Park being a nonprofit.
“You have more access to raising funds and even have the ability to apply for grants. A lot of grant opportunities we would want have to go to nonprofits, otherwise they don’t take your application under advisement,” says Erin.
Since the nonprofit status was officially granted in January, Erin says the organization has only just started getting organized.
“We just met for the first time in February where we elected a board, and we meet again April 20. We’re still getting things set up,” says Erin.
The good news for the new organization: There is definitely plenty of interest.
“We have an email list of 130 to 140 people and I guarantee that’s not everyone who uses the park,” says Erin.
“We’ve got a great group of abut nine people to be board members,” Erin says. “And the people who were involved with helping at the park before was they really did a lot of work and they set a great example for us.”
The group’s email, fobdpct@gmail.com, is checked regularly, and the plan is to have a website up and running by the end of April.
“We’re also a recognized nonprofit on Amazon Smile,” says Erin.
Amazon Smile is a program that donates 0.05 percent of a purchase to a chosen charity.
Additionally, Erin says the group is hoping to launch more fundraisers in the near future.
“I know there was talk to do some more fundraisers,” says Erin, highlighting possibilities like bike rides, dog walk-a-thons, and raffles. “We’re always looking for more volunteers to help with fundraising or help out at the facility.”
Erin says Bailey’s Dog Park is a facility that plays an important role in many people’s lives.
“I think my husband and I would be bored on the weekends” if the park didn’t exist, Erin says.
Erin says that going to the park has allowed her and her husband Walter to socialize with other people they’ve met at the park, and it’s also important for the pups themselves.
“It allows us to give back to our four-legged friends that show us nothing but love during the week,” says Erin, who add that socializing the park allows Nola to be more comfortable when out.
Nola being comfortable around others is important, especially because she accompanies Erin to work. Erin is a social worker in East Haven.
“I’ve been in private practice since September 2014 where I work with adults who have mental health concerns,” says Erin.
While at work, Erin says she is lucky in that she gets to take Nola with her where she says “clients love her.”
Erin grew up in Southbury and has called Clinton home since 2017.
“We found a house we really loved and like the town’s location and didn’t mind being out of New Haven County,” says Erin.
In her spare time, Erin and her husband like to travel—oftentimes with Nola—as well as just lay low around the house.
“We really like Clinton. It’s a nice small town and it’s got diversity in that I can be in the water or be in the woods either way in only minutes,” says Erin.