Walking down the street in Roxbury’s Dudley Square can be a miserable experience in January weather. The wind whips and bites at faces, and yet brings with it the sweet aromas of the Haley House Bakery Cafe’s ever-changing menu. A combination of healthy, flavorful food, an outgoing staff and colorful artwork adorning every wall, the Cafe does more than just quiet the grumblings of run-of-the-mill pedestrian bellies.
Haley House Bakery Cafe runs its own training program, which works to equip underemployed men and women with the means to earn a living in the culinary industry, Bakery Director Bing Broderick said.
“Every day brings complete surprises,” he said. “There are always moments in any day that are frustrating and others that are sort of magical. It’s the magical moments that keep me coming back.”
Broderick said workers come to the Cafe from referral programs like Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence and the Latinos y Ninos Center, a bilingual program for recovering female alcoholics or drug abusers. Participation in the Cafe’s program can also result from a personal reference.
Trainees learn culinary art and baking skills in a six-week program, which requires them to work 20 hours a week for $8 an hour. To see if potential workers are committed and interested, Broderick said they go through a one-week trial period before the program commences.
When Broderick recognizes growth or positive changes in trainees, he describes them as “magical moments,” though he said he would not to discuss them in detail because they were very personal to him.
“It’s an ‘aha’ moment,” he said. “It’s a moment where you think, ”So this is why I do this. This is what makes it worthwhile.’ You have somebody who’s a former crack addict who is really resolute and has found a purpose and self esteem through doing something in the training program.”
The two-and-a-half-year-old Cafe is not yet sustainable by itself, Broderick said. It is intended to eventually generate funds for the rest of the Haley House non-profit organization, which includes a soup kitchen, low-income housing and an organic farm.
“When you’re training people, it’s really hard to be [sustainable] because you’re paying somebody $8 an hour, but you could pay somebody [else] $12 an hour who could do it in half the time,” Broderick said.
Catering brings in $15,000 to $20,000 per month to the Cafe, Broderick said, and provides the Cafe the opportunity to promote its catering work. Sometimes the task can be difficult with trainees, he added.
“Catering is something that is very customer service-driven,” Broderick said. “With a training program you know that mistakes will be made…What’s good is our customers know that they’re supporting us.”
Broderick said although Haley House Bakery Cafe receives grants from various organizations, everyone who asks the non-profit to cater does so with the knowledge that they are supporting the Cafe’s cause.
About 200 to 250 people walk through Haley House Bakery Cafe’s door each day, in search of paninis, wraps, omelets, “Southern Slop” — grits, eggs, cheese and chicken sausage — along with a seemingly endless list of baked goods. Cookies, brownies, scones and even pizza dough are sold at the counter.
Customers said they come to Haley House Bakery Cafe because they want to support the cause and enjoy the disarmingly friendly atmosphere.
“The people who work here are incredible,” Cafe regular the Rev. Gregory Groover said. “They remember your names. They make a connection. They merge relationships.”
Groover said he not only recommends the eatery to friends, but to his whole congregation at the Historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, he said as he waited for “Mr. G’s Breakfast” — his daily order of two fried egg whites and chicken sausage.
“I have that every morning without fail,” he said. “I usually have a lot of my meetings one-on-one or with groups, so it’s how I start my day before I go into work.”
Cafe Manager Hector Camacho, who said he has worked at Haley House Bakery Cafe for nearly eight months, works the register, cooks and knows most customers on a first-name basis, jovially shouting hellos over the counter and making friendly jokes as customers place their orders.
“That’s what keeps me coming to work every day,” he said. “I love my customers. I love cooking. I love putting a smile on a person’s face when they taste something we made and knowing that it’s flavorful, wholesome.”
Camacho said the key to customer satisfaction is “being in touch with people” and being able to identify and meet their needs.
He said he also became exposed to healthy cooking at Haley House Bakery Cafe, having previously cooked fast-food type meals for a catering company. The Cafe uses a lot of organic ingredients, some from the Haley House organic farm in Winchendon Springs.
Catering Coordinator and trainer Ramona Bermudez is one of Haley House Bakery Cafe’s greatest success stories. She entered the doors as a trainee and is now a full-time employee.
“I’m a recovering addict that has been clean for three-and-a-half years,” Bermudez said, adding her trainer was not sure the program was a right fit for her.
“I was determined to move on with my life and start out clean,” she said. “Him telling me I wasn’t going to make it made me more determined to prove him wrong. And I did. I proved him wrong.”