Successes

Juno, a 2025 Pawsperity graduate, can’t believe the life she has now. She spends time with her children, works in a job she loves, is making more money than she ever has in her life, and has even purchased Worlds of Fun season passes for her family. Five years ago,…

"I’m not the same person I was two years ago,” Karla shares. Four years into her drug addiction, in 2010, she lost custody of her children. This devastating blow sent her spiraling deeper, and eventually, she became homeless. In 2014 after her first arrest, she spent five years in and…

Tanisha is not just a Pawsperity Grooming School Instructor but also a graduate from the very first Pawsperity class of 2016. Inspired to give back to the program that helped give her a new life, she decided to come back to Pawsperity two years ago—this time to teach. With smaller…

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…

Three years ago, Kelly graduated from Pawsperity. Within two weeks, she was hired by Brookside Barkery—where she has been employed ever since. Getting to this point in her life was not easy, but she is deeply grateful for all the support along the way. In and out of prison for…

For as long as Tanisha could remember, she loved animals. She grew up with birds, chickens, cats, dogs, and a whole host of other animals. She had fond memories of a childhood dog, a Rottweiler named Gypsy. “I remember spending afternoons with Gypsy at my grandma’s house. We would share…

Jodie is a proud graduate of Pawsperity’s 2022 graduating class and is celebrating her 2-year anniversary as a professional groomer at a local salon. As a dedicated single mom, Jodie, like many parents, wants only for her children to be happy and do well in life. She adds, “I feel…

Victoria's life changed when she was 19 after a stroke left her unable work. At this pivotal age, she was adrift, unable to find her purpose. She spent 18 years on social security before finding Pawsperity through Ticket to Work, a social security initiative that provides career development opportunities to…

When 26-year-old Christine Banks was selected to the inaugural class of Pawsperity in 2016, she was a quiet, but strong, single mother seeking a better job—and a better future—for her two children.

In January 2018, Ashley found herself seven months pregnant, living in a homeless shelter with her two daughters. With $232 to her name and her husband awaiting sentencing for aggravated battery charges, her hopes and dreams for the family she always wanted were slipping away. To support her children, Ashley…

Annie knew she was willing to do what it took to work with dogs, her lifelong dream. Just like many other students, the power of the human-animal bond helped Annie graduate from Pawsperity’s extensive grooming program.

Surviving childhood trauma and the hardships of poverty and addiction can turn little things into big deals. For April, it was getting her personalized grooming scissors, a milestone for students at Pawsperity.