Thank you for supporting our sanctuary community.
About Us
Our Story – Pando Foundation
The name “Pando” was chosen deliberately. The name “Pando” is my last name, but it is also the name I gave to the strongest thing I’ve ever known: an unbroken thread of resilience that has carried me through every dark season of my life.
In nature, Pando is the world’s largest living organism—a single aspen grove in Utah whose roots are all interconnected underground. Like those ancient trees, our animals, volunteers, veterans, children, and community members are linked by invisible bonds of resilience, empathy, and healing.
We are a very small village that grew from one woman’s refusal to look away.
Tiffany Pando started this journey alone, seeing in every frightened dog and broken horse a reflection of the deepest wounds humans carry. She believed then (and still believes now) that animals and people share the same quiet strength: the power to heal the most shattered hearts, to steady the weakest knees, and to forge the greatest determination when they are loved without condition.
With a tiny circle of souls who Believed in every step and chose to stay (Kathy, Deletta, Lucia, Beth and Glenn and a handful of others), Tiffany turned “unadoptable” misfits into gentle therapy dogs and fearful horses into patient teachers. Together they proved that trauma understood is trauma transformed, and that true community is the unbreakable bridge between past pain and present purpose.
Pando Foundation is built on that truth: everybody has a story, everybody has scars, but when we heal side by side, we become something greater than our wounds. This village is living for the now, paying forward every second chance, and showing the world that the strongest bond on earth is the one that says,
“You are not alone.”
Root by root, heart by heart. We are Pando.
Thank you for being part of the village.— Tiffany Pando Founder & President Pando Foundation Corporation
Our history
Long before there were bylaws, a board, or even the words “nonprofit,” there was just Tiffany Pando and Defarest Files —
It began with Tiffany Pando, a dog behaviorist who could never close her door. Countless hours, endless days, and one more “unadoptable” dog at a time turned her home into a quiet sanctuary for the long-lost misfits the world had written off as untrainable, unsociable, and hopeless.
With a tiny, fierce circle of believers by her side, Tiffany refused to give up. She rewrote their stories, retrained their hearts, and gave them new purpose. Those same “hopeless” dogs became gentle therapy dogs who now rest their heads on others knees and let children bury tear-streaked faces in their fur and smiles that will never be forgotten.
The horses came next: discarded for temperament, forgotten for behavior or just couldn't keep any longer to no fault of their own. Tiffany measured their fear, rebuilt their trust, and watched them blossom into patient giants who carry strangers toward healing.
Today, those once-broken or untrained animals bring strangers to tears of joy: veterans remembering their first ride, children whispering “I’m not scared anymore,” adults feeling seen for the first time in years.
Pando Foundation Corporation was born from that miracle: one woman, one village, and a thousand-second chances proving that love, patience, and community can turn any misfit into healers.
This is only the beginning.
Our Mission
At Pando Foundation , our mission is simple, sacred, and unbreakable:
To create a fully self-sustaining nonprofit sanctuary and therapy training facility where every rescued dog and horse finds a loving home and a new direction or purpose in life, every traumatized or untrained horse discovers gentle rehabilitation or a guiding hand, and every veteran, child, and person living with disabilities is welcomed into the most beautiful lesson life has to offer —
the healing power of true community.
We believe that kindness, compassion, dignity, love, and respect are not just words; they are the quiet breath between a horse’s soft nuzzle and a veteran’s first peaceful smile in years. They are the moment a child who has never felt safe suddenly laughs while brushing a dog who once flinched at every touch. They are the unspoken promise that no creature — human or animal — will ever heal alone again.
Through animal-assisted therapy, trauma-informed education, and inclusive community programs, we weave together the most resilient hearts:
Together, they teach one another — and all of us — that belonging is not something you earn. It is something you are given the moment someone refuses to look away.
By 2028, Pando Foundation will stand completely on its own — no longer leaning on the private income that carried us this far — so that every dollar, every volunteer hour, and every gentle touch can be poured back into lives that need them most.
This is more than a mission. This is a promise rooted in, rehabilitation, strength, foundation and purpose watered by love, and growing stronger with every heartbeat that chooses to stay.
We are Pando
Pando Foundation Volunteers
Lucia Coronado
Lucia Coronado is an unbreakable, radiant force of love wrapped in quiet strength. For over 4 years she has stood beside Tiffany at 3 a.m., answering every desperate call, never once turning away a single dog. Sleepless nights, border crossings, and impossible medical crises are simply what she does — because no animal in pain is ever “someone else’s problem.”
With grace that feels almost spiritual, Lucia coordinates life-saving veterinary care across Mexico and the U.S., turning hopeless cases into another chance at life. She is the calm voice, the steady hand, and the miracle-maker behind hundreds of second chances.
Beautiful inside and out, Lucia runs Pando’s entire canine branch with tenderness and precision. She is living proof that one woman’s refusal to give up can change thousands of lives — one wagging tail, one soft nuzzle, one healed heart at a time.
Jamie La Fortune
Jamie is the horse woman who stands her ground with a heart of pure gold. Fierce when safety demands it, endlessly generous when a hand is needed, she serves as Pando Foundation’s equestrian coordinator and lifeline to everything equine.
Her mastery of horse health, nutrition, etiquette, and disciplined care is legendary. Countless times she has quietly solved crises, sourced perfect feed at a moment’s notice, and kept every Pando horse thriving through her trusted feed store and unwavering expertise.
Jamie doesn’t just help coordinate and manage the equestrian side — she protects it, nurtures it, and pours love into every bale of hay and every gentle correction. She is the steady, golden thread that keeps our horses safe, healthy, and ready to heal the humans who need them most.
We are beyond blessed she calls Pando home.
Kathy Holton
Katherine Holton “Kathy” has been Tiffany’s rock since the very first day of Pando Dog Training. She is the gentle voice that whispered “keep going” on the hardest nights, the brilliant student who became the master, and the best friend who never left the passenger seat during a single rescue run or overwhelming break down.
Countless hours, thousands of repetitions, endless patience; Kathy helped shape every therapy dog now bringing peace to Tiffanys world. She was there at the beginning, and she is here at the heart of everything beautiful we do.
Kathy doesn’t just train dogs With Tiffany. She trains the hope. Her steady presence reminds us all that true loyalty looks like showing up, day after day, with love in your eyes and belief in your heart.
We are forever grateful she chose this journey with us.