Healing through helping: Branford High junior promotes emotional support through nonprofit

Danny Federico editor@riverbendnews.org At just 17 years old, Branford High School junior Ashlee Combee is already using her own experiences with grief to help others navigate some of life’s most challenging moments. Combee founded her own nonprofit, Paw’sitive Change Foundation, Inc., at the age of 13, with the mission of raising awareness about emotional support animals. What began as a personal journey has since grown into a larger effort to reach as many young people as possible with messages of hope, healing and comfort. Her passion was formed in 2020 following the loss of 5-year-old Jackson Timothy Roberts. That same year, she met her dachshund, Bentley, who quickly became