Program areas at Bread Project
Between july 1, 2022, and june 30, 2023 The Bread Project enrolled 77 low-income individuals and graduated 54 over a period of nine food prep & baking job training & placement program sessions. Each program session is 5 weeks long, 150 hours of instruction, with a cohort of 8-12 participants. With 54 graduates @ 150 hours each, thats a combined 8,100 hours of individualized instruction. 96% of The program participants were low-income, 88% were unemployed upon enrollment, and 35% were receiving some form of public benefits. The graduates faced many barriers to employment: 49% lacked permanent housing, 58% had minimal formal education ending with high school or a ged, 41% were reentry or justice-involved, 10% were immigrants or refugees, and 14% had a disability. 89% of The graduates seeking employment were hired within 30-60 days of graduation, 86% were still in their jobs after 90 days, and The average wage was $20 per hour. Demographically, 60% were female, 40% were male, and of those, The predominant populations were black/african american 55%, hispanic/latino(a) 26%, and white/ caucasian 10%. Agewise, 20% were 18-24, 56% were 25-45, and 23% were over 45.
Our entrepreneurs incubator program provided 5 entrepreneurs and their food startups with training in food handling, recipe and production scaling, and business planning, as well as kitchen space for their operations.
Our community meal program for The homeless and food insecure was on hold when our nonprofit partner operating a homeless shelter lost its food contract.