ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Maybe you’ve seen them selling baked goods at local farmer’s markets in Anchorage. Or maybe you’ve tasted their goodies served on the Alaska Railroad or in the Alaska Airlines lounge. Motley Crew Bakery is making a name for itself, but it’s the story behind the muffins, breads and cookies that is really sweet.
Motley Crew is part of a program called Streets to Success which is run by the nonprofit Bean’s Café. The program has been around in one form or another for the past three years, according to Streets to Success Director Kyle Gardner. About a year ago, Streets to Success underwent a major expansion. It’s now a 12 to 16 month long residential drug and alcohol prevention program for people who’ve experienced homelessness or incarceration.
“We take folks who are at their rock bottom, we give them a place to stay, we help them work on their sobriety, we work on life skill development, we work on job readiness skill, we work on resume building, GEDs if they need that,” said Gardner. “We just kind of build up the whole person and we get them to where, when they graduate our program, they are hirable, they’re sober, they have work experience, and they are really able to step from the streets back into Anchorage successfully.”
Part of that work experience involves the Motley Crew Bakery where program participants learn more than just baking skills in Bean’s Café’s large commercial kitchen.
“Yes, you learn baking skills,” Gardner said. “But more what you learn is how to interact with a coworker, how to take direction from a supervisor, how to handle a stressful order that came in.”
The bakery produces goods for a number of businesses in town and is constantly looking to expand. Gardner said the goal is to generate enough revenue from the sale of baked goods and catering to make the Streets to Success program self-sufficient which he said is getting close.
When it comes to success for participants, Gardner said there have been three graduates since the expansion a year ago, all of whom are gainfully employed and living in Anchorage. There are currently eight men enrolled in the program, with openings soon for ten more.
Gardner said people who buy a cookie or a loaf of bread from Motley Crew can feel good about where the money is going. All the proceeds go towards housing, clothing and feeding people in the program. Every purchase could be considered a small investment in someone’s life.
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