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Kelly’s K9s, Tails of Courage, the New Jersey nonprofit that places trained personal protection dogs with survivors of domestic violence at no cost, has been awarded $25,000 by the Chrysanta Foundation. The organization announced the award on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, as Domestic Violence Awareness Month came to a close.
According to the announcement, the money will support the group’s core work: highly trained personal protection dogs for survivors, specialized handler education, and ongoing professional training so each survivor and dog can work as a team. The award is meant to address what the nonprofit calls a critical and often overlooked need, personal safety long after the immediate crisis has passed.
The Chrysanta Foundation is a Brooklyn based grantmaker that funds organizations empowering women, and family and gender based violence is one of its stated focus areas. Kelly’s K9s said the award reflects a shared commitment to ending gender based violence and helping survivors reclaim their safety, independence and freedom.
“When a foundation like Chrysanta chooses to invest in our mission, it sends a message that survivors deserve more than sympathy. They deserve meaningful solutions,” founder Kelly Sutliff said in the announcement. “This award is an investment in human lives, in independence, and in the belief that no survivor should have to spend the rest of their life afraid.”
Sutliff, a domestic violence survivor and licensed psychotherapist, founded Kelly’s K9s in October 2024 after experiencing firsthand the difference a trained protection dog could make. The nonprofit works with Metro K9 Academy in Bernardsville to prepare both the dogs and the survivors for the long term, pairing protection training with education, responsibility and continued support. Its work runs through two programs, the K9 Placement Program and the K9 Partner Training Program, both aimed at making protection accessible to survivors who might otherwise be unable to afford it.
Morris County residents have gotten to know the group well this year. Kelly’s K9s hosted a free open house at the Hanover Township Community Center in Whippany in June, then followed it with the Paws, Football and Purpose fundraiser at ElevenGreen in Rockaway on Oct. 25 to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The nonprofit called the Chrysanta award another significant milestone in its growth and in its larger goal of making sure financial circumstances never decide whether a survivor has access to protection and peace of mind. As the organization put it in its announcement, awareness may have a month, but its mission has no end.
Anyone who wants to help the next survivor get a trained protection dog can find donation and volunteer options on the Kelly’s K9s support page.
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