A Life-Long Love of Animals Breeds New Opportunities

Christina Lough, a January 2022 graduate of The Grooming Project, said one of things she likes most about working as a groomer at The Salon in Lee’s Summit is the creativity to adapt a breed’s standard cut to a dog’s particular facial features. “What’s considered a...

Gaining Independence Takes a Group

Cassie Bratton struggled to regain her independence after an abusive relationship, until she met the group at The Grooming Project. Growing up, Cassie Bratton loved life, and she loved her dogs. Her days were relatively steady and normal. Until an abusive relationship...

Modeling What’s Possible

Aware of her own potential, The Salon manager, Christine Banks (left), wants to show other graduates of The Grooming School how to embrace opportunity. When 26-year-old Christine Banks was selected to the inaugural class of The Grooming Project in 2016, she was a...

As The Salon Expands, Hope Grows

Cassie Bratton, graduate of The Grooming Project, grooms a dog at The Salon in Lee’s Summit.  The real beauty of The Salon—a nonprofit “beauty shop” for pets in Lee’s Summit—is the fresh opportunity it provides its groomers. All employees—managers, groomers,...

A Cut Above

Andy Wiltz plays with dogs at Woof’s Play & Stay. KC area employers embrace training program and skills of graduates ready to start their career. By Andrea Byrne If anyone knows how challenging it can be to hire a good dog groomer, it’s owners and managers...

A Bright Future Set in Motion by Boss’ Kindness

By Rebecca Smith You’d be hard-pressed to find a story that better illuminates the life-changing effect of The Grooming Project than that of Kylie Stevens. A recent graduate (April 2021), Kylie’s world right now is one she can barely have imagined a few years ago. She...

Dogs as Healers

How pet grooming can lessen the effects of trauma on humans By Betty Jean Curran When Annie started the program, she was terrified. After spending years living in a trailer with her abusive boyfriend and three children, miles away from any neighbors, she couldn’t...

Rerouting for a Better Future

By Kelly Scanlon When 35-year-old Jeanne Dennison, a recent graduate of The Grooming Project, lost custody of her daughters two years ago, she was facing a long prison sentence for drugs and weapons possession. Losing her children turned out to be a critical turning...

Keeping Promises

A career in pet grooming empowers this mom of three to keep her family together while her husband serves a prison term. By: Barb Pruitt When 32-year-old Ashley Stillings was a little girl, her parents divorced. At just 7 years old, she made a promise to herself to...

A Place to Call Home

The Grooming Project’s first housing facility brings families together By: Meg Townsend If you arrive at The Grooming Project’s new family residence facility on any weeknight, you are likely to find women talking as they prepare meals together while their kids watch...