Fondation MIRA

About Fondation MIRA:

Founded in 1981, the MIRA Foundation (MIRA) helps disabled people access the services they need by teaming them with trained guide and service dogs free of charge. Since its establishment, MIRA has paired 3,051 guide and service dogs to the blind and/or deaf, people with motor disabilities and children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). MIRA runs three major dog services: guide dog programs, service dog programs and a rehabilitation dog program. The service dog programs are for people with motor disabilities or children with an autism spectrum disorder. As of 2015, Fondation MIRA has 1,325 dogs helping disabled people.

Schola Mira is a service dogs program for children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), a subcategory of ASD. In F2015, Schola Mira made up 48% of total program costs. Through this program, MIRA counsels children with a PDD and pairs them with companion dogs in the hope that these services will help the child grow more independent. As of 2015, MIRA has 381 PDD/ASD dogs helping children grow more independent. Besides children with ASD, MIRA also offers service dogs to people with motor disabilities. Most people receiving help through this program are in wheelchairs and need help getting around and picking up objects. As of 2015, MIRA had 275 active service dogs in this program.

The MIRA Foundation’s guide dog programs are for blind people who may also have a motor disability or be deaf. Fondation MIRA’s 2015 annual report states that as of 2015, the charity had 222 active guide dogs and 15 deaf/blind dogs.

The Mira Foundation’s rehabilitation dog program helps people receiving physiotherapy at the Centre de Réadaptation Estrie. With the 14 active rehabilitation dogs as of 2015, MIRA hopes to speed up the rate of recovery for patients at the center. Physical therapists claim that MIRA’s rehab dogs have improved patients’ gait patterns based on observation.

Financial Review:

Charity Intelligence has  analyzed the charity’s French audited financial statements to the best of our abilities but we recognize that detailed financial information is beyond our linguistic expertise. Material omissions may not be reflected in Charity Intelligence’s analysis.

The MIRA Foundation is a big-cap charity with total donations of $6.7m in F2015. Administrative costs are 3% of revenues and fundraising costs are 34% of donations. $0.38 of every donated dollar goes toward overhead costs, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

MIRA holds funding reserves of $2.8m, of which $331k are donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity’s reserves can cover only 56% of annual program costs, indicating a funding need.

This charity report is an update that is currently being reviewed by Fondation Mira. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 26, 2016 by Katie Khodawandi.