This Henrico County doggy day care helps more than just dogs (2024)

At BarkAbility, dogs are a community’s best friend.

Born from owner Charlene Frostick’s desire to help, the Henrico doggy day care facility aims to provide dogs with the love and attention they deserve while also providing volunteer opportunities for young adults with differing abilities, so they can develop job skills, build relationships and be a part of a caring community.

“It’s wonderful. The dogs get so much more attention than they would any place else,” said Frostick. “They can use this as a job reference, or I can give them a reference. But a lot of them, all they want to do is come in and love on the dogs. And what’s better for the dogs.”

Frostick’s passion stems from volunteer work she did in college at a halfway home for people with disabilities that were trying to transition into independent living.

In 2017, Charlene and her daughter, Erin Smydra, founded Building Blocks, a behavioral health care center for children and young adults with autism spectrum or behavioral disorders. While working with Building Blocks, Frostick noticed a lack of support for young adults with disabilities after they graduated high school.

“You see firsthand how a lot of these kids get so much support through school and all sorts of resources. But once you graduate it’s done and there’s very little out there for you,” said Frostick.

BarkAbility fills a gap for individuals with differing abilities during a period that’s often overlooked, equipping them with vital job skills necessary for future employment opportunities.

Frostick teamed up with her other daughter Kelly Osborne to open BarkAbility in September 2023, taking over the facility at Crossroads West Veterinary Center located at 10950 Three Chopt Road. It offers full-day day care services for $25 a day and half-day day care services for $20 up to 4 hours. It also does overnight boarding starting at $35 a night.

The facility houses roughly 32 dogs at any given time. The space has various rooms and an outdoor area with plenty of toys, sprinklers and slides.

Volunteers help with cleaning, leash training, bathing and socialization activities that foster teamwork, responsibility and communication skills.

The center currently has 11 volunteers with differing abilities including autism.

Catherine McLaren, a 19-year-old volunteer, said the most fun part of volunteering at BarkAbility is getting to play with the dogs and the hardest part is separating them when they get into small fights.

“I learned how to handle the dogs,” Catherine McLaren said. “I was into dogs and animals, but I didn’t know how to properly handle them.”

McLaren was introduced to BarkAbility after her mother, Danielle McLaren, began to worry about her options as Catherine transitioned into adulthood.

“I was very just concerned about my daughter after graduation, what she would do,” said McLaren. “I was really struggling and stressing myself out to know what to do with her, and there was no help out there that I could actually ask or get.”

After learning of McLaren’s concern and Catherine’s love of dogs, Frostick offered Catherine a volunteer opportunity at BarkAbility. McLaren was grateful for the offer as she began struggling to balance work and catering to her daughter’s needs.

“It’s definitely a struggle,” said McLaren, “and that’s why I was so happy that Catherine was introduced to something in her field that she wants to try and get to do. This was such a great opportunity.”

The environment at BarkAbility fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between dogs in need of love and attention and young adults seeking personal growth and skill development.

For Catherine, it’s been helpful.

“She definitely matured. She’s understanding a lot and she’s just so motivated now. She’s like, ‘Oh, is it Monday? I get to go to work today.’ It’s definitely something she loves to wake up to do,” says McLaren.

Tamara Wain, an employment coach with Career Support Systems provides support for Catherine and others at BarkAbility. Career Support Systems promotes independence and self-sufficiency by helping people with barriers to employment find jobs and stay productive in the workforce.

“It’s just a good way for them to find out if this is something they want to do,” Wain said. “It’s not until we get our hands on doing it that we can find out whether it’s a good fit or not.”

“It’s important to test that out before you’re actually working a paid job.”

Alyssa Morton, 16, said she was afraid of dogs at first but got over that fear when she began volunteering at BarkAbility nearly a year ago. She has since gained more interest in working with dogs for her career. “I really wanted to get a job that involved dogs,” she said.

Soar365 is a Virginia nonprofit offering a wide range of programs to provide support for the daily, real-world challenges of living with a disability. As a supported employment specialist, for Soar365, Alicia Malin works with people with disabilities to help them find jobs, get jobs, provide accommodations on their job sites and check in to make sure that they’re able to maintain their jobs.

“BarkAbility has been such a great place to bring people. They’re so disability friendly, they’re so open to making sure that the people that I bring here are comfortable and that they’re providing the right support for them,” said Malin.

The team running BarkAbility is small with only Frostick and three others leading the facility day and night.

Ainsley Neiman, a kennel assistant and rising junior at Douglas S. Freeman High School, said she likes working with the volunteers.

“It makes it a lot easier on me,” she said. “There’s 20 or 30 dogs a day, so having a volunteer just being able to just watch the dogs while I clean outside or clean one of the other rooms is a big help.”

Frostick says BarkAbility is a mission-driven for-profit. “I want people to understand you can make money and do good in your community at the same time,” she said.