On the Rise Bakery

Earlier this month, I was able to write a feature on an awesome Detroit company called Rebel Nell; Rebel Nell is a jewelry company that employs, educates, and empowers disadvantaged women in Detroit, providing them with training to help improve their lives. Across town, On the Rise Bakery is performing a similar function for men in Detroit working to regain their lives.

On the Rise Bakery, which is a residential program sponsored by the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, is run by men who are trying to change their lives for the better. The men who work as bakers at On the Rise have recently been released from prison or have completed a substance abuse treatment program.

Becoming employed at On the Rise Bakery means that these men will have supportive housing, training, counseling services, educational opportunities, and self help programs for the entire year that they are in the program. The bakers may use their earnings to help pay off their debts, but must also bank two thirds of their income for the year, thus guaranteeing good financial standing at the end of their participation in the year-long program.

The communal benefits of the Capuchin ministry date all the way back to 1883, when the Detroit ministry was established. In 1929, when the city was reeling from the Great Depression, the friars founded the Capuchin Soup Kitchen to provide desperately needed meals to the people of Detroit. Through the soup kitchen and various other programs, the ministry furthers its mission to tend to people’s basic needs, stimulate minds and nourish spirits, and understand and address causes of social injustice in the community.

One of the most recent additions to the ministry’s offerings to further those goals was the R.O.P.E. program; R.O.P.E., which stands for Reaching Our Potential Every Day, was started in 2006, with On the Rise Bakery as it’s first outreach program. Each baker at On the Rise is a member of R.O.P.E., and each bears the responsibility of helping to support the program’s newest members.

Each purchase from On the Rise Bakery directly supports the Capuchin ministry’s mission and directly aids in providing a means for the men employed there to significantly change their lives.

Not only that, each purchase is delicious! There were so many options at unbelievably great prices that my family and I spent nearly ten minutes debating what to get. We landed on the pretzel rolls, a coffee cake, and a brownie (all three of which were scrumptious). I pushed hard to have a loaf of kalamata olive bread among our bounty, but I lost the battle, so I will definitely be back very soon.

What would be your first choice from On the Rise? Are you with me on the Kalamata Olive Bread front?

Be sure to like On the Rise Bakery on Facebook and follow the Capuchin Soup Kitchen on Twitter!