{"id":2331,"date":"2012-12-01T01:56:55","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T06:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-220214-918144.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=2331"},"modified":"2020-09-03T14:13:26","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T18:13:26","slug":"daybreak-kids-learn-life-skills-by-baking-pet-treats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daybreakdayton.org\/daybreak-kids-learn-life-skills-by-baking-pet-treats\/","title":{"rendered":"Daybreak kids learn life skills by baking pet treats"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Mary McCarty
\nStaff Writer,\u00a0Dayton Daily News
\n<\/i>Reprinted with permission from the\u00a0Dayton Daily News<\/em>
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When Jordan Cook was 17, his mother, Diane, died without warning, at age 43, from an aneurysm.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy world turned upside down,\u201d recalled Cook, now 20. \u201cI had this whole life, with a mom and a little brother and sister, and everybody went here and there and everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

His younger brother and sister went to live with relatives, and Cook eventually found refuge at Daybreak, the Dayton shelter for homeless youth.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t have pictured himself where he is now: as baker, customer service rep and go-to guy at the newly-opened\u00a0Lindy & Company\u00a0Gourmet Pet Treats. He\u2019s dreaming of a career in culinary arts, with an education financed through military service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The storefront at 823 Wayne Avenue opened October 26, 2012 with the ostensible goal of spoiling pets throughout the Miami Valley, with treats such as \u201cYogurt Lovers Peanutty Puppers,\u201d \u201cCarobean Smoothies,\u201d and \u201cCheddar Chompers,\u201d rumored to be delicious even for human palates.<\/p>\n

But the real mission is job-readiness for kids who may lack the skills they need to keep a job.<\/p>\n

In the past, Daybreak staffers took great care to prepare kids for job interviews, making sure they wore the right clothes and knew how to make a proper handshake.<\/p>\n

“We were doing something wrong because they got the jobs, but they didn\u2019t last,\u201d observed Daybreak executive director Linda Kramer. \u201cThey didn\u2019t have the job skills for a 40-hour job in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened to Cook when he got fired from a job he loved after showing up late a couple of times.<\/p>\n

“It was horrible, one of those downer moments, like when they play sad songs in the movie,\u201d Cook recalled. \u201cI was messing up. I wasn\u2019t taking things as seriously as I should.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Lindy\u2019s, he\u2019s regaining his work ethic and learning new job skills, such as interacting with customers. \u201cI am a lot more mature,\u201d Cook said. \u201cI have a sense that time is slipping away and being 20 is where everything begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cook enjoys the work: mixing product, weighing it, baking it, putting it in bags. \u201cA normal work day goes by pretty quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The idea for the pet treats business was born when Kramer observed how much the Daybreak residents enjoyed working with chef Noelle Brown.<\/p>\n

“I also read an article that during a recession, one of the businesses that still did well was gourmet pet treats,\u201d Kramer recalled. Two anonymous donors loved the idea, donating a combined $230,000 to start the business, which is named in honor of one of the donor\u2019s Golden Retriever.<\/p>\n

Local businesses have offered support. Ashley\u2019s Pastry Shop in Oakwood partnered with Daybreak on the project, allowing the young chefs to test recipes at their facility during off hours.<\/p>\n

Like Cook, Brown didn\u2019t envision herself at a place like Daybreak when she graduated from culinary arts college four years ago and she accepted a job at Daybreak. She had something else in common with the young clients for whom she was cooking. \u201cI was homeless,\u201d she said. \u201cI was sleeping on someone\u2019s floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t tell her employers about her ordeal until it was long over, but it helps to solidify her rapport with the Daybreak kids. Brown now smilingly describes her job as an unofficial hybrid of chef and social worker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve become so wrapped up in the cause, that this is where I feel I belong,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWhen I first met Jordan I found out our moms had both died at an early age, and we talked about that and related.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having been homeless herself, she can share her experiences along with the cooking and baking pointers. \u201cI\u2019ve been there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cook echoed that sentiment. \u201cI can relate to her,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s not a giddy person who doesn\u2019t understand what you\u2019ve been through. What\u2019s great is that you gain work experience and work ethic around people you\u2019re comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without intending to, perhaps, Cook hits upon the phrase that describes the very best, and rarest, of workplaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found a family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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