I would like to welcome Travis Rindler, Daybreak employee, to this segment of 50 Faces 50 Voices. So, Travis, how did you get connected with Daybreak?

I started back in November of 2013. I was actually an employee at Goodwill, and they contracted with Daybreak through their employment program. And I, along with Sharmel Calbert, worked with our clients in both programs and I eventually got hired on at Daybreak full-time and have worked here ever since in some capacity.

Awesome! So, how have you seen Daybreak change from when you started in 2013 to today?

Oh, in so many ways. It’s always changing. It’s part of what makes Daybreak amazing and resilient.

A great example is Lindy’s dog treat bakery. A lot of people are somewhat familiar with that program. It was really taking off prior to COVID.

Originally, Lindy’s started out of bakeries like Ashley’s and then we got our own brick and mortar building on Wayne Avenue. Then eventually we moved the bakery location over to where we’re at on Patterson. We were going to be picked up to go nationwide with our product. Unfortunately, COVID affected that contract, and we had to pivot.

We started working with Miami Valley Meals in real time serving meals to the community during that pandemic and now they themselves have their own brick and mortar building. And we have pivoted again to provide workforce employment services to our youth so that they can get ServSafe certified and enter into the restaurant or kitchen industry but also work with an employment specialist during that time to give them some guidance and other career paths.

In short, Daybreak addresses what the problems are in real time and tries to pivot and serve the needs of our youth the best that we can.

What has surprised you the most about your time at Daybreak?

I think I came in with this mentality of ‘there’s going to be a lot that I can share with the youth that I work with’ in terms of helping them gain stability, gain access to resources and confidence.

But I didn’t expect to learn so much from the youth and people I interact with on a daily basis.

I am challenged in a lot of really unique ways that have forced me to grow and become more patient and understanding. And I really feel that is the best gift that I’ve gotten from being here and one of the ones that I didn’t really expect.

Yeah, definitely! If you could tell people one thing about Daybreak, what would you want them to know?

I would say that Daybreak is a place full of amazing people. We have amazing youth that we serve who are really trying to gain stability and see a bright future for themselves.

We have amazing staff who care about the well-being of our youth and all that we serve.

And we have an amazing community of people who give their time, energy and their money to help make sure that Daybreak stays in business.

We are celebrating our 50th year and we couldn’t do it without all kinds of amazing people and it’s really neat to wake up on a regular basis and know that I’m meeting new and amazing people every day.

That’s probably my favorite part of the job.

Awesome! Well thank you for your time and thank you for all the work you do for our youth at Daybreak.

Stay tuned for more interviews and in the meantime make sure you’re all caught up on past interviews including this one with Daybreak Alumni Cathy Walker.