Our Program includes servsafe certification
Our goal is to create a pathway for people with employment barriers gain employable skills so they can earn a living wage and attain self-sufficiency. The training program consists of four, 12 week-long learning modules per year. Fifteen to twenty people are enrolled in each class. Highly trained bakers teach the hard skills that create opportunities for higher salaries, increased productivity, and job promotions in the baking and hopitality industries. We also provide the soft skills training that employers expect in their candidates. Transportation is provided by Rise and Shine to and from classes Monday through Friday, thereby eliminating the lack of reliable transportation, one of the most common barriers to workforce development. Program participants complete ServSafe training that gives the graduates an additional skill desired by employers. Wrap-around support services are provided by the Rise and Shine full-time professional program/case manager and support staff. These include financial literacy instruction, resume' creation, mock interviews, job interviews and placement with employer partners, referral to other social service agencies for needed services, and counselling as needed. We know that successful outcomes for each individual requires holistic plans for making sustainable changes to long-held circumstantial and behavioral patterns. We strive to provide the best opportunities and self-confidence for program participants to succeed in overcoming their barriers to employment.
)
How Rise and Shine Began
Our Founders, Elizabeth Kinney and Pam Siemer are former administrators of The Light House Homeless Prevention and Support Center in Annapolis, Maryland.
Their combined experience of over 40 years working with vulnerable populations has provided them with first-hand experience of the often insurmountable barriers to employment. The opportunity to learn employable skills and find gainful employment is both critical to financial stability and building the self-worth necessary to sustain that stability. This work proved to be life changing as 87% of the people served at the Light House left with employment and housing.
In 2011, The Light House initiated a culinary training program. More than 450 individuals have graduated from that program. Over 90% of those graduates have gone on to gain and sustain employment. The culinary training program served as a pipeline to The Light House Bistro, a 60-seat restaurant in downtown Annapolis that hires graduates of the culinary training program. Now in its fifth year of operation, the Bistro continues to employ people overcoming homelessness while operating in the black. The outcomes for the people working at The Bistro have been simply extraordinary, with many employees being promoted and then finding sustainable employment in other sectors.
Elizabeth and Pam recognized that this model could and should be replicated. Based on the employment needs in the baking industry and with the confidence that training a diverse group of vulnerable populations could meet those needs, the Rise and Shine Bakery training program was launched. They put together a diverse and talented Board of Directors comprised of leaders in the baking industry and community members with needed start-up skills and experience.
Additionally, an Advisory Board was established to provide expertise in developing the curriculum, mentoring the growth of the Rise and Shine program and serving as guest instructors. The team has spent two years developing an extensive step-by-step curriculum and training program.