Project Mission:

Empowering the Parent to Empower the Child (EPEC) is a 501(c)3 organization which utilizes an innovative model to address homelessness and generational poverty through its tuition-free job training program The Grooming Project – a Missouri Department of Higher Education certified pet grooming school located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri. The Grooming Project is a rigorous five day a week, eight hour a day program. Small cohorts of students start every two months and must complete 644 hours of animal grooming training, soft skill courses, and pass multiple exams before they are eligible for graduation. For the average student, this process takes six to seven months to complete (i.e. cohorts overlap). Upon graduation, students are placed in unsubsidized grooming jobs at salons throughout Kansas City. EPEC provides an employment specialist for up to 18 months post-graduation to assist graduates with the transition to living wage employment that often includes a benefits cliff and a change in daily living cadence.

Students accepted into The Grooming Project are parents, primarily women, with multiple barriers to employment such as trauma, unfinished education, and homelessness. EPEC provides a host of social supports throughout the 6-month training program to help stabilize a student’s home environment so they can focus on learning a new skill that will provide access to a living wage trade. While 100% of EPEC’s graduates are placed in living wage employment, when students are unable to reach graduation, unstable housing is the primary reason why. Many of EPEC’s students have backgrounds that cause them to look like a leasing risk on paper and thus finding quality affordable housing is a constant struggle. For this reason, EPEC made the decision to build its own transitional living residence to house some of EPEC’s student families while they are navigating EPEC’s training program.

Project Description:

The EPEC transitional living residence is a 2 story, 5,700 sq ft development with 6 bedrooms. Each room is 400-500 sq ft. and is equipped with its own washer/dryer and bathroom. There is a shared kitchen and a shared living room on each floor. The development also includes an office for service providers to engage with residents onsite as well as a multipurpose space that can be used as a computer lab or training room. The total projected hard cost for construction of the project was $1.22 million. The actual cost was $1.42 million. Primary sources of cost increase above projection were related to COVID-19 related work disruptions/supply chain changes and city requirements. Construction began in May 2020 and was completed in February 2021.

The material build for the development includes metal stud bearing walls with a lightweight deck, concrete topper, and with cement siding product for the exterior, spider insulation for the cavities, and high impact gyp board for the interior walls. The property also includes a 6 ft tall iron perimeter fence around the parcel with panel-controlled entry to the parking lot.

Project Stakeholders:

The project was fully funded by a group of local and national family foundations. Onsite volunteer support includes a volunteer group building and maintaining (in conjunction with residents) a 12 raised bed community garden. Additionally, a volunteer group is providing the funding and assembly of resident room furniture, purchased new, and that can be taken with each family as they move out into a permanent living situation at completion of the program.

For More Information:

Empowering the Parent to Empower the Child (EPEC) / The Grooming Project
5829 Troost Ave
Kansas City, MO 64110
660.202.9159
[email protected]