Based just outside of Washington, D.C., in Alexandria, Virginia, Together We Bake is more than a typical bakery.
In addition to producing granola, cookies, and other baked goods for grocery stores and restaurants in the metro D.C. area, Together We Bake creates something much more lasting—second chances for women, many of whom are attempting to reenter the workforce after a period of incarceration.
Friends Stephanie Wright and Tricia Sabatini founded Together We Bake in 2012, after recognizing a need to provide opportunities for women in need. Sabatini brought the skills she had developed while running a successful home-based cookie business for 10 years, while Wright used her experience in social work and program management to build the program, which combines producing baked goods with job training and coaching, assisting participants in obtaining marketable skills and certifications in the culinary field, and providing the encouragement needed to take advantage of those opportunities.
The program is having an impact on the lives of the women participating in it. Ninety percent of Together We Bake graduates have obtained their ServSafe Food Protection Manager’s Certification, a valuable resume item that makes it much easier for those who have it to find work in the industry. And the recidivism rate for those entering the program with a criminal record is only eight percent.
“It’s like a team, like a family of sisters,” says Bonnie Rice, a program participant who was released from prison last year, in a story for National Public Radio. “The women here at Together We Bake have showed me there’s love and respect—and that you are someone.”
Ninety-five percent of the men and women behind bars are eventually released into their communities. Without the help and support from people and organizations like Together We Bake, far too many of those former prisoners will return to their old habits, and eventually back to prison. Prison Fellowship works with individuals, churches, and organizations to create networks of support that will provide those leaving prison with a better chance for success. To learn more about what we are doing to assist these men and women as they transition to being good coworkers, employees, and neighbors, visit our reentry page.
