KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers stories involving downtown Kansas City, Missouri up to North Kansas City. Share your story idea with Grant.
The holidays aren't always easy for families struggling to make ends meet.
There's no one solution to ending generational poverty, but as we look back on the year, two women are looking back on the program that gave them their independence.
It's called Pawsperity, and it goes a step further than many nonprofit aid organizations.
Pawsperity teaches a skill - dog grooming - and also helps vulnerable Kansas Citians learn how to manage their own dog grooming business, while helping them find housing options.
Christine Banks went through the program a few years ago. She now owns her own grooming business, The Salon Furever Pets.
"It feels really good. But it also is overwhelming sometimes because I never thought in a million years that this would be, I would be in a position like this," Banks said.
“I graduated in 2016 from Pawsperity ... It’s amazing. Just because you can see what it has done for me. And not only me, there are other women like me who are trying to get out of poverty and do better for themselves. And sometimes we, or they cannot do it on their own.”
The training program has graduated over 160 students like Christine over the years. 96-percent of them got job offers within two months of graduation.
"And they may not even know what they're capable of yet. But once they're able to graduate and get through the program there's a different confidence that we see," said Jennifer Strickland with Pawsperity.
Jodie Houston is a more recent graduate. She's now working on her own, supporting her family in a way she used to think wasn't possible.
“I can actually prepare for an actual future versus trying to figure out what I’m going to do just day to day. I can actually live life and then offer my kids that option as well," she said.
"It’s night and day. I never thought that I would be where I am today where I have my own house, my own car. I’m able to be a part of my kids life every day and I can provide for them without any assistance and I’m out of any hole that I was once in.”
The tuition for students is free because of donations. Right now there's a donation match going on until the end of the year.
Click thelink to donate.
