Brad Grabs, Founder and Director
After 22 years serving kids in the urban core of Kansas City, Kansas through the Learning Club of KCK, Brad Grabs followed a calling to start something new and address the social and spiritual needs high school students in 2024.
Brad grew up on a farm near Harper, KS. After earning a degree in accounting at the University of Notre Dame, he served one formative year in the Vincentian Service Corps in the impoverished rural community of Stamps, Arkansas. He then spent one year in Detroit as a Jesuit novice, before discerning that God was calling him to a life of service, but not as a priest. Wanting to stay connected to the Jesuits, Brad moved to Kansas City to teach theology at Rockhurst High School, from 1996-2001. He also lived and ministered at the Shalom Catholic Worker House, a men's shelter in Kansas City Kansas. He lived in that volunteer intentional community for 10 years, tending to the needs of the homeless and immigrants. It was there that Brad met his wife, Dawn, who also joined the Shalom House community. In 2008, they married and moved to a house a few blocks away in Kansas City, KS, across the street from the Learning Club. Over their 16 years of marriage, Brad and Dawn had 3 of their own children and five foster children, worked together at the Learning Club, started Friends in Faith KC and another nonprofit, Faith and Support Together, to support the poor in Ghana and East Timor. They are very active in their church community.
Dawn Grabs
Dawn has worked with Brad since before they were married on several nonprofit and ministry endeavors. Dawn's and Brad's shared ideals of living out their Catholic faith with people on the margins has enabled her to help Brad start Friends in Faith.
Growing up on a farm near Manning, Iowa, Dawn studied Information Systems at Drake University in Des Moines. After working at Wells Fargo, she left the corporate world to serve for two years as a missionary in East Timor. Dawn moved back to the U.S. in 2006 to work at Unbound in Kansas City and to live at the Shalom Catholic Worker House. She loves welcoming and advocating for immigrants and serving the homeless.
Dawn currently volunteers at Friends in Faith by helping Brad with programming, the website, and serving on the board. In addition, she works part-time at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Mission and is a spiritual director. Dawn is also a very active volunteer with her kids' school, John Paul II in Overland Park.
Board of Directors
Friends in Faith KC
Brad Grabs
Dawn Grabs
Rebbecca Johnson
Luke Livers
Diego Payan
Kathy Ryan
Dora Sandoval
