The Expand Prosperity Capital Campaign

THE

EXPAND

PRO SPE RITY CA P I TA L CA M PA I G N

Increasing our impact through improved access to high-paying jobs and affordable pet care services.

It’s About Grooming, Love, and Hope.

S

ince opening our doors on Troost in 2016, The Grooming Project has served over 600 parents and children stuck in the cycle of generational poverty. From women in addiction recovery to men with little to no employment history, we have welcomed, believed in, and supported adults who have nowhere to turn.

By coupling training in the highpay trade of pet grooming with comprehensive support services, The Grooming Project has become an unexpected solution to the problems that plague struggling families.

100% of graduates leave The Grooming Project with a job in the grooming field. The average hourly wage of our graduate groomers is $24. Given that our students accomplish this with zero

educational debt and often only a high school diploma or less, these outcomes are noteworthy.

With this success has come a rapidly increasing demand for our services that cannot be accommodated in our current facility. We invite you to learn more about our vision for expansion and join us in meeting the demand for adults eager to find hope and financial stability through pet grooming.

Graduates of our program see their income increase from an average of $3,600 annually to an average of $41,000.

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Meeting the Needs of Our Families Professional Grooming Training Students complete 644 hours of hands-on training in the art of dog grooming.

Under the close supervision of our instructors, students learn proper dog handling and all the breed specific grooms necessary to land a job in any professional salon.

Case Management Our comprehensive case management allows each student to stabilize many areas of their life at once. We help students find safe housing, quality childcare, and reliable transportation. Through partnerships with local businesses and agencies, we connect students with free dental care, mental health services, and other supportive services.

Life Skills Students participate in three hours of life skills classes per week, covering topics like parenting, financial literacy, work readiness, and emotion regulation. This group time offers students the opportunity to reflect on experiences in the grooming room, bond over shared histories, and learn new skills to apply in future jobs.

Job Placement and Support Our Employment Specialist helps each student prepare to enter the workforce through mock interviews, resume writing, and one-on-one assistance searching and applying for jobs. After graduation, students receive continued support as they navigate their new jobs.

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Number of applications in 2021:

THE NEED

300+ 20 Available space per cohort in 2021:

An Ever-Growing Demand Program Popularity

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n 2021, The Grooming Project received over 300 applications from struggling adults in need of stable, high-pay employment. Due to space limitations, we were only able to serve a fraction of them.

Our grooming school, which is where students spend the majority of their week, lacks adequate space. It currently only allows for ten grooming tables, which caps the number of students we can admit into each cohort.

Additionally, our bathing and drying rooms are very small, making it a challenge for multiple

groomers to care for the 30+ dogs groomed every day. These areas are congested and make for uncomfortable working conditions.

Currently, two to three staffers share every office, with some working in closets. This setup is particularly difficult for our social workers, who need privacy to work with students on delicate issues.

Market Growth In the short period of time since The Grooming Project opened in 2016, the pet industry has grown from a $60 billion to a $100 billion industry. A significant portion of this growth is the high demand for grooming services.

We have seen this demand firsthand, as our current grooming school is booked out more than two months for discounted student grooms. Many community members would love to support our mission by bringing their dog in for a groom, but the current wait time prevents them from doing so.

Number of Student Grooms Per Day:

30

Current Wait for Grooming Appointment:

60 Days

Our list of Kansas City area employment partners has expanded from 84 to over 250 businesses regularly in need of groomers. Our students graduate with multiple offers of employment and start working within days of completing their training.

100% Job placement rate:

$100+ Pet Industry Sales in 2021:

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Billion

THE SOLUTION

The Country’s Only Nonprofit Grooming Salon is in the Heart of Kansas City.

And we’re just getting started.

In response to the significant need our target population has for highpay job training and wrap around services, along with demand from the community for grooming services, we purchased a much larger building 200 yards from our current school on Troost. We are transforming this dilapidated former Advanced Auto Parts store into a state-of-the-art grooming school and salon.

This larger facility gives our staff adequate space and triples the number of students we can serve. With increased space will also come drastically increased service capacity, with the potential to increase our earned revenue more than tenfold.

Students served per year in current building:

Dogs groomed per day in current building:

Annual earned revenue in current building:

27

30

$150,000

Students served per year in new building:

Dogs groomed per day in new building:

Annual earned revenue potential in new building:

60-80 90

The Development Site – 5805 Troost The future home of The Grooming Project is located approximately 200 yards from our current location. This property allows for an easy continuum of services with our current clients and provides much-needed revitalization of a continuously distressed section of the Troost Corridor.

The new 16,000 square foot building will include two stories. The main level will feature the grooming training school, a new market-rate salon staffed by graduates of our program, an indoor/outdoor doggie daycare, and grooming staff offices.

The second level will house a training center for soft skills classes, staff offices, a break room, and a food pantry for students. The training center will be spacious enough to accommodate grooming conferences, meetings, and guest speakers. We look forward to providing one-of-a-kind educational opportunities to our students and graduates in this new space.

$1.2 million

Current Building:

5,200 sq ft

16,000 sq ft New Building:

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CAMPAIGN GOAL You can be a part of this unique solution to generational poverty.

$ 8,500,000

Your support will get more local adults into high-paying careers.

We are energized by the possibilities this expansion will create for our students, their children, the local community, and the dogs in our care.

With your help, we can improve the environment in which our staff works and our students learn, in addition to more than tripling the number of adults we train and doubling the number of dogs we groom. Your gift will also play a vital role in helping us grow our earned revenue from $150,000 per year to over $1 million.

Building Acquisition: $800,000 75% of First Year Operating Expenses: $2,000,000

Join Us Today By investing in our expansion, you will provide a powerful pathway out of poverty for Kansas City parents and their children. For more information or to offer support, please contact:

Natasha Kirsch

Annette Teson

Founding CEO 913.905.9081 or nkirsch@epeckc.org

Director of Development 816.791.7023 or ateson@epeckc.org

Total Raised to Date:

$ 4,538,290

Lead Funders ($250k-$1 million): Hall Family Foundation McDonnell Family Foundation Marny and John Sherman

Planning/Rehab/Construction:

$5,700,000

Well-trained employees are in-demand now more than ever. The Grooming Project is ready and willing to do our part to fill this need.

Will you help us expand our impact?

Sunderland Foundation Jack F. and Glenna Y. Wylie Charitable Foundation

Contact Anntte Teson at ateson@epeckc.org or 816.791.7023 for room naming opportunities or to make a gift.

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5829 Troost Ave., Suite B Kansas City, MO 64110-3143

www.thegroomingproject.org/expandprosperity 816.214.5376