Who hasn’t ever scratched at a mosquito bite and wondered, “I hate them; why do they exist?”  Or fleas, ticks, intestinal worms … all parasites for that matter. But as cooler weather approaches, some of us are likely to forget the aggravation caused by this year’s bumper crop of pests.  But …  As pet lovers,...Read More

“If you can’t afford a pet, you shouldn’t have one.”  We hear this quite a bit. Certainly it comes from a place of compassion for animals; I myself thought this long before I understood what happens here at SNKC. Or what the reality would be if everyone who struggled from time to time couldn’t have...Read More

“Because of her, I’m never sad,” Charlie says from the front porch of his tiny home at the Veteran’s Community Project. He lives there with his best friend, a pibble mix he calls Blue.   Blue loves people and proves what we say about the bully breed all the time: they’re wonderfully sweet and good for...Read More

A week rarely passes that I don’t think about John.  Anytime I try to tell someone about him I immediately feel my heart stumble, and the words start stacking up in my throat like cars at a busy intersection. I don’t believe I’ll ever forget what he turned to me and said as we sat...Read More

Just down the road from SNKC HQ is a small community where lives are being put back together piece by piece. It’s called the Veteran’s Community Project. Most people know it locally from the small houses that are being built at 89th and Troost. It’s called the Village. And it does have a village feel...Read More

The marred knob on my basement door tells the story.  It was probably 20 years ago. My neighbor invited me over to grill out for the fourth. As it turned dark, he pulled out a box of fireworks and began shooting them into the sky. We knew our dog, Annie, was not a fan of...Read More

We believe in the power of pets to change lives in dramatic ways. And this submission, made by an SNKC client, reveals how true that actually is. We are running it here with only a little editing for length and clarity because it’s an incredible testament to the impact pets have on our lives. …...Read More

Marie was trying to give her dog, Precious, away. “I need someone to take her,” she said without looking up. Surrenders – that’s what people in our business call it – happen for a lot of reasons and, typically, none of them are good. An owner has passed on and family can’t take care of...Read More

I learned to be terrified of tornadoes in the spring of 1977. As I lay hidden underneath a wrestling mat with hundreds of my fellow students in a large gymnasium, a twister was leveling the other two schools in my hometown along with what seemed like most of the neighborhoods.  There was no terror for...Read More

Two hours. That’s all I spent outside and a good deal of the time I was in and out of the van, heater blasting full volume against the rush of cold. When we finished – not sure of the time – it was murky and dark. The wind was pushing down on us from the...Read More