Bakery Serving Up Second Chances

NPR AUDIO – SOBRIETY IS BUN –

March 2, 2023 –

JANIE DEEGAN: We have an open-door hiring policy, meaning that, you know, no matter what your life situation is right now or has been in the past, we look at the person you show up as today at the interview as the candidate, the whole candidate and the whole picture.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Deegan started Janie’s Life-Changing Baked Goods about a decade ago after emerging from a struggle with addiction and homelessness. Now she’s offering a new start to employees like Jane Hensley, who was trying to find work after almost three years in prison.

JANE HENSLEY: She was the first person to offer me a job, and that was a miracle to me, that someone would be willing to hire me and trust me, considering that I was basically unhirable (ph).

FADEL: Hensley says she’s rebuilding her life at the bakery and at Columbia University, where she’s studying film.

HENSLEY: I’m in Janie’s shoes right now, and I’m still kind of starting off completely from scratch. And she’s the first person to advocate for anyone that’s made a mistake and given them the same opportunity that she was given.