The story below is from our March/April 2020 issue. For the full issue Subscribe today, view our FREE interactive digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
Local nonprofit brings community together through baking.
Three years ago, three women mixed up a recipe of hope and help and connection. They offered their vision to the community. And it took.
Today, House of Bread is located at West End Presbyterian Church, cooks in the nearby LEAP Kitchen and sells bread and baked goods on designated Fridays. The group has worked with 36 underprivileged women and are set to serve another dozen through the end of 2020. They’ve gathered 70 volunteers to help and raised tens of thousands of community dollars to keep the program moving forward.
“The hope is that we make a really big difference in a small number of people’s lives – and then those people have a ripple effect,” says Lisa Goad, House of Bread’s program manager and only paid employee.
The concept from the beginning was simple: volunteers bake with previously incarcerated women who are looking for a path to employment. Each woman earns skills in cooking, marketing and customer service and is paired with a mentor who can answer questions and open doors. Volunteers are introduced to the people behind the statistics, breaking down stereotypes. The bread they bake together is sold to the community.
Cynthia Lawrence has mentored three House of Bread participants over the years. As a businesswoman and community leader, she felt she had skills and perspectives to offer. She quickly realized the relationships she formed with the women would be key.
“I had to spend some time with each of them to find out where they were in their journey.”
The wheres and hows of the program have evolved over the years. In 2020, there will be three eight-week sessions, serving four to six participants each. Volunteers and women bake once a week, producing enough bread, scones and granola to support half the cost of the session. Any woman who would benefit from the program may apply. Most are referred from local agencies such as Total Action for Progress, the Rescue Mission or drug court.
But the connection between volunteers and participants remains central.
“We want people to realize that when somebody comes out of prison or jail or is struggling with substance abuse that, first and foremost, they are still a person. They’re not so different from us,” Goad explains.
Baking bread together is more than symbolic. “It’s so easy to have a conversation with someone you have nothing in common with when you’re standing side by side with your arms in a bucket of dough,” she says.
The group has big dreams for the future. They envision a cafe or coffeeshop where program sessions could run continuously, where a diverse community could gather, and where program graduates could be employed.
At the moment there is not money or staffing to bring the vision to life.
But a year ago, House of Bread began hosting dinners at West End Presbyterian Church. The idea was to create a place for graduates and volunteers to keep in touch. What emerged was something bigger.
Now, on the first Friday of each month, church members, West End residents, House of Bread volunteers and graduates share a meal. Anyone is welcome. Goad says she’s seen people from all walks of life sit down together.
“Something good is happening in that room,” she says.
It’s become one ripple from House of Bread’s work in the world.
House of Bread’s spring session begins mid-April. Head to houseofbreadroanoke.com for details on how to pre-order and where the bread will be sold.
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