Latham Street Commons Creates Night Owl Bakers – a Workforce and Career Readiness Program
Founded by two Carnegie Mellon professors, Kristin Hughes and Mary-Lou Arscott, Latham Street Commons has involved hundreds of community residents in the design and learning process. Over the past two years, the team has invested time experimenting with potential ways of growing food. Metro21 funds Latham Street Commons and their project to test the impact of rain water collection and distributed energy generation systems on food productions in an urban environment.
Latham Street Commons (LSC) is a living idea – and therefore continuously adapting and changing depending on resources and demand. Although, the one thing will always remain consistent: the team will not abandon their commitment to create a culture of care that affirms the value and resiliency of all people. In fact, LSC has evolved from experimenting with growing food into a social enterprise for young adults from severely underserved communities called the Night Owl Bakers.
Night Owl Bakers is a workforce and career readiness program. Through making and selling artisanal breads and baked goods, the bakers will engage in facilitated self-discovery and come to learn who they are, why they matter, and where they fit in. With the generous support of LSC's community partners, the bakers have the resources—access to a beautiful community kitchen, rolling pins, and a dedicated staff—in place and were able to welcome the first cohort of bakers on March 25, 2019! The team is working together—blending forward thinking experiences that combine food, entrepreneurship, and creative thinking—affording participants a multitude of opportunities to form lifelong habits that improve the quality of their lives and community.
If you are interested in supporting the development of Night Owl Bakers through volunteering or donating, please contact Chahni Peeples at nightowlbakers@gmail.com.
You can get to know about the Night Owl Bakers by following them on their Facebook and Instagram pages, and sharing the links with friends and co-workers.
website: www.nightowlbakers.com
facebook: @nightowlbakerspittsburgh
instagram: @nightowlbakers
Team Includes:
Kristin Hughes
Mary Lou Arscott
The Night Owl Bakery Team