Last year IKEA announced their Life Improvement Project with the tag line, “Life Improved. Community Improved.”   The possbility of a year-long paid sabbatical was an innovative contest idea, and this year’s winner proves that the whole sabbatical trend is not just about the person who is on sabbatical. Yes, this year’s winner will have a sabbatical year to indulge her passion, but many lives – from inmates to those serving our country - will reap the benefits.  (And I’m not even including the dogs!)

We applaud IKEA for creating this unique opportunity.  We imagine that should this platform be adapted on a smaller scale for any company, the world could indeed be a better place.

Kyria Henry, a 23 year-old Virginia native, edged out over 2,000 contestants to win IKEA’s Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest.  She’ll have the year off  (plus $100,000) to follow her passion.  At just 12 years old, Kyria founded paws4people, and later paws4vets, training and pairing service dogs with children, seniors, seriously ill and disabled people and war veterans needing assistance.

With a year-long sabbatical Kyria will devote full attention to the paws4vets program, providing service dogs to assist retired and active-duty military veterans as a tool to ease emotional, physical and psychological traumas and help them return to normal life.

In 2007, paws4people partnered with a women’s federal prison in West Virginia to teach inmates how to train service dogs to work with people with disabilities. Kyria says one of the first female inmates she worked with is now her lead dog trainer. Today, paws4people has made more than 7,000 classroom visits and 260,000 therapy visits, which are documented sessions between an individual and a dog in training. The program operates in nine states and has plans to grow across the country. Kyria says she eventually wants to create her own complex for the dog-training program, which would include a special education academy, breeding grounds, veterinarian care and a dog retirement facility.

You can follow Kyria along  at www.thelifeimprovementproject.com/