Halifax gluten-free café provides opportunities for people with intellectual, developmental disabilities
A bakery in Halifax's north end provides not only gluten-free foods, but also opportunities for people who may struggle to find work.
The North End Baking Co. and Café hires people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"We're a social enterprise café staffed by adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are staffing our kitchen and our café as well," said Adrienne McCormick, a supervisor at the bakery.
"So, we're an entirely gluten and nut-free facility to encompass that allergy that tends to be more prominent in the community to kind of create more inclusivity in our employment, in our café and in our food that we offer."
According to the café's website, recent studies have shown that people with Down syndrome may develop celiac disease or gluten sensitivity at higher rates than the general population -- as high as 16 in every 100 people.
Baking Co. teams with Prescott Group participants with training in food preparation, baking, cashiering and other food service and kitchen responsibilities.
Prescott Group helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities find friendship, community and success in Halifax since 1962.
"It offers such a unique experience for our participants where they're able to gain those employment skills in an environment where they're comfortable and with people that they're comfortable, and it gives them that encouragement that they can do it out within the community," said Charlene Kuhn, the supervisor of community engagement and employment at the bakery.
"So that's firsthand experience and bringing that out into the workplace is reaching all our goals."
McCormick says, for the most part, the bakery's gluten-free menu is what tends to draw people in, initially.
"And then it just kind of doubles as an extra great treat to know what backs us and what our goal is here," she said.
Baking Co. not only offers treats in-store, but has a catering option as well.
"So, anything from those muffin and cookie boxes, to charcuterie boards, sandwiches and soups. We offer lunch a couple days a week as well, so we kind of have a wide variety of foods," said McCormick.
Kuhn says it's not only heartwarming to provide people with jobs, but to also see them reaching goals.
"So, once they start here in the café and they're getting that job training, and they're learning the iPad and all the different skills that are coming with it, it just creates so much more opportunity for them," she said.
"We're extremely fortunate to have a really diverse and skilled team here," said McCormick. "Having an inclusive team on staff really lends to the whole experience for everyone involved."
The café, located at 3430 Prescott Street, is open from 8:30 a.m. until noon on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.
"And on those mornings that we are open, we offer free coffee and cookies to seniors in our community as well," said McCormick.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.