Edible Blue Ridge Spring 2023

them for jobs and also provides spiritual and emotional support in the form of yoga classes, discussion groups or Bible study. The students are also paired with mentors, who meet with them for an hour each week. Mentors help stu dents see their own potential, establishing goals and developing a blueprint of how to build to wards each of those goals. Brooke, whose happy place is in the kitchen (opening quote), is currently in a twelve-step program. She and another participant, Christy, live at the same halfway house and Brooke has taken on the role of cooking meals for residents. “It’s gotten a lot better since she took over meal prep,” says Christy. “I raised my three nephews and my own kids; I like to take care of people,” says Brooke. “I taught them all how to cook. I’d put on music and we’d have a dance party in the kitchen.” Brooke dreams of one day having her own cafe. “Tea and coffee, jazzy vibes. Cool but unpretentious … I even know how to make crumpets!” she tells me as she mixes a sheet tray of granola. On the day of my kitchen visit, Goad teach es a lesson in problem-solving as they discover that a batch of their English muffin bread has had the wrong flour added to it, along with too much liquid. This makes the dough heavier than normal and it struggles to rise in the oven. With the pick-up time for customers rapidly approaching, two volunteers, Goad and a stu dent work quickly to bake off another batch. As Sarah pulls the dough together with her hands, she tells me she has three children at home and enjoys baking with them. She saw the program as an opportunity, both for help finding a job and also because it may help her find something she actually enjoys doing for a living. “I like to bake with my kids,” she says as she drops dough into bread tins. Although not all are experienced, many women in the room share a love for baking. That’s why Susan started volunteering six years ago. “I love to bake; I’m always baking. I knew Lisa from our church and I knew if she were in volved, it was going to be a program that made a difference. Here, barriers are dropped.” It’s true, too. When I entered the kitchen I spotted eleven women in HoB shirts and vary ing fades of jeans. I didn’t know who was a stu dent and who was a volunteer. Instead, I saw women laughing and chatting as they scooped

food and beverage safety training and certificate program that is required by many food service jobs. After the ServSafe training, the program moves into the baking and mentoring portions. Bake-offs happen every other week. The prod ucts made are sold to the public and the proceeds go towards purchasing ingredients, paying for the community kitchen space and other pro gram expenses. Goad has created recipes that cover a variety of baking basics. Participants learn how to scale recipes, weigh ingredients, use a large-format mixer, bake and package as they make granola, cookies, scones and breads. Occasionally they’ll get to work with a fun local ingredient, such as when Goad’s neighbor donated her fig harvest last fall. Though the program is small — only four to eight participants at a time — Goad notes that this allows them to focus on the individual; they can tailor the program to match the needs of the students. The students face many roadblocks as they prepare to re-enter the job market, perhaps the largest one being the stigma that having a record holds. Goad quotes one of the program’s early participants: “I need people like you to not be afraid to be seen with people like me.” In the kitchen, cultural, financial and spiritual differ ences aren’t at the forefront. Women bond over the sensation of tacky bread dough sticking in the webs of their hands. They laugh as they fold chocolate chips and dried cherries into still warm granola, chocolate melting onto food-safe gloves and fingerprinting parchment paper. “They just need community,” says Goad. Between 2010-2014 the incarceration rate of women in Virginia increased by 32%, accord ing to a study conducted by the Virginia ACLU. Women who are incarcerated tend to be young, plagued by poverty and lacking in job skills. Most who are parents are the sole or primary caregiver of their children prior to their incarcer ation. Often, what leads someone to be engaged with the criminal system is an attempt to cope with challenging aspects of their lives. Like many nonprofits, HoB relies on chari table donations from organizations such as local churches, businesses and individuals. Reacclima tion after incarceration can be difficult, which is why programs such as House of Bread are so vi tal. During the weeks that students don’t bake, HoB leads classes and workshops to prepare

cookie dough, washed dishes and watched timers. Goad points out that the greatest impact the program can have is to make its participants feel seen and heard, and not in a context of past offenses or mistakes. The program ends with students and men tors holding a mock job interview, followed by a graduation ceremony. After graduation, it’s up to the students if they’d like to stay in contact. Some students stay in touch, either with their mentors or with Goad and the program. A few graduates have even come back to volunteer in turn. As important as the program is for the stu dents, it may be just as beneficial to the men tors and volunteers. “I did not have any close relationship with anyone in jail or the prison system,” says Goad. “I have benefited tremen dously from this work, from these relationships. I believe when we remove some of the barriers these women face, we are changing Roanoke for the better.” Most of us want to feel seen and have our voices heard. To be acknowledged for who we are as a whole. To be seen as a person and not a label. House of Bread does just that. Want to become involved with House of Bread? Donate: You or your place of employment can donate to the program Volunteer: Volunteers are needed for kitchen days (no prior baking experience is required), to provide transportation for students and to deliver orders to various pick-up locations Mentor: Female-identifying mentors are needed to meet weekly with students for eight weeks Purchase House of Bread Baked Goods: houseofbreadroanoke.com/new-products

22 | edible blue ridge SPRING 2023