On the day her third child was born, Ashley was praying for a miracle. “That first night was truly bittersweet, lying with Tommy all alone in the hospital. Just him and me. He depended on me, and I wanted him to be able to count on me.” The fear and anxiety of not being able to provide for her three children tainted what should have been a joyous life moment.
While awaiting Tommy’s arrival in 2018, Ashley’s husband was being sentenced for aggravated battery charges, and she had $232 to her name. She was seven months pregnant and living in a homeless shelter with her two daughters. The hopes and dreams for the family she always wanted were slipping away.
Ashley began waitressing to provide for her girls and relied on her roommate at the shelter and her family to watch her kids. With no car, she walked along a busy highway at night from the shelter to work and back. It was during those walks that her darkest thoughts would creep in. “How will I provide for these soon-tobe three kids?” She knew working as a waitress was a temporary band-aid and not a sustainable way to provide the life she wanted for her children.
After Tommy was born, a flyer for an information session about Pawsperity’s grooming school and the potential to make a decent living as a dog groomer caught Ashley’s eye. The opportunities a Pawsperity graduate shared during a presentation spoke to Ashley and motivated her to apply. After several months of hard work with hundreds of hours of handson learning and testing through six different levels of instruction, she graduated. At first, she was nervous about grooming without her instructors there to guide her, but she soon realized they had prepared her well for her new career.
Working at one other salon after graduation first, Ashley then began working at Woof’s Play and Stay in Lawrence, Kansas in June of 2020. Today, she is proudly their Lead Groomer. “I absolutely love what I do—I don’t even feel like I’m working. But most importantly, I am providing my kids with the life they deserve.” On her own, in 2021, Ashley became a homeowner. Today, she not only provides her children with a safe and stable home, but also the activities and opportunities they love, like dance, cheer, and karate.
Reflecting on how far she has come since those nights walking back to the shelter or lying in the hospital after her son was born, Ashley is grateful that her kids don’t remember those days. Instead, they see the confident mother she has become, the mother they can rely on, and the one she dreamed of being. Simply put, Ashley says, “Pawsperity was the best decision I’ve made in my life. It was my light in the darkness.”
With the help of Pawsperity, Ashley’s family went from barely surviving to thriving. As a graduate, Ashley is empowered to pay her own bills, buy her own home, and give her kids the life they deserve.
