The silent battle can be seen every day in Rambler Room and Market 820. "To get a cookie, or not to get a cookie?" students debate as they stare down chocolaty chunk goodness.
Fortunately, there is now a reason for Loyola students to feel good about succumbing to the power of sweets. Sweet Miss Giving's, a not-for-profit bakery that seeks to both employ and donate money to homeless and HIV/AIDS-affected people in Chicago, now supplies baked goods for sale at Loyola.
With the motto "Unquestionably kind, unreasonably good," Sweet Miss Giving's (SMG) sells high end sweets and gives more than half of its profits to the Chicago House, an organization that provides housing for the homeless and those with HIV/AIDS.
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| All in a day's work -- Interns (from left to right) James, Rosalind, Angel and Patrick at Sweet Miss Giving's (SMG) bakery make fresh-baked goods in the SMG kitchen. The interns participate in a job program that allows them to bake goods for charity while also getting back on their own two feet after being homeless. Photo by Alicia Ramirez |
The bakery is the brainchild of Rev. Stan Sloan, the CEO of the Chicago House. He was looking for a way to use business to benefit the organization when he encountered Stephen Smith, who was then a community organizer working on a family homelessness campaign. Though Smith didn't have any baking or business experience, Sloan knew he was the man for the job. "[Sloan] is a wonderful, wonderful man," said Smith. "He is also one of our favorite taste testers." One can imagine what a coveted position that must be.
The bakery's staff consists of formerly homeless adults who need work experience. "Our interns have been on the job market and can't get a second look because they don't have a first job," said Stephen Smith, the chief executive of SMG. "This is that first job."
The interns, who all come through the Chicago House, must go through a training program for six weeks to acquire skills that will not only help them perform their bakery job, but that will also be necessary when they look for jobs after their internships. They learn everything from production and packaging to delivery and customer service. If they can make it through the training, they are given a six month paid internship at the bakery.
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| Macer, an intern at SMG, wraps the cookies that make their way to Loyola's Rambler Room and Market 820. Photo by Alicia Ramirez. |
Jason Durham, 28, has been working at the bakery near the North/Clybourn Red Line stop for more than eight months. Durham, who swears by SMG's blueberry muffins, has been a professional staff member at the bakery since graduating from his internship two months ago. He is currently working at the factory, but will be going into customer service when a new SMG storefront market opens up at Ogilvie Station (located at 500 W. Madison St.) on Nov. 12.
Previously a maintenance worker at a McDonald's in Kalamazoo, Mich., Durham had never had any baking experience. He had been back in Chicago for a year, living in a crowded studio apartment with his mom and sister, which he said prevented him from getting the right amount of rest to make a living.
It was then that Durham met Sloan, who saw that Durham was stressed. Sloan introduced Durham to Chicago House and got him an apartment. Durham now lives in Uptown instead of staying in "the hundreds," located on the South Side of Chicago. "It's quiet where I am now," says Durham. "And I thank Reverend Sloan for that."
Durham added SMG helped him turn his life around, and that he can see himself doing something like this for the rest of his life. "There are no words for it," he said. "This is like heaven-sent to me."
When Mayor Daley snipped the ribbon more than a year ago, nobody knew the success that would come out of SMG, given the state of the economy. "We picked the absolute worst time in the last six years to open a bakery," said Smith. "Truthfully, we've been doing really well." He add SMG sold six times as much last month than it did in January.
"Everyone here works insanely hard," said Smith. "Whether it's our interns who work for six weeks without pay to learn this, or our professional staff who could be working at some high end restaurant with a bigger pay check, everyone is making some sort of sacrifice to be here."
Although now students might not have to debate whether or not to get a cookie, they might take some time in deciding which kind. If you need advice, Stephen Smith says the German chocolate brownies are "unreal." No matter the flavor, your cookie could do a lot more good than you might think.
Originally published in the Loyola Phoenix on November 10, 2009. Link here.
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