In 2004 Senator Dick Durbin asked the Reverend Stan Sloan about the most desperate needs of the homeless and disabled men, women and children that Stan has served for two decades in his role as CEO of Chicago House. Stan responded immediately: "we need an employment system that helps people move from entitlement programs to self sufficiency…thus creating room for others in our system." Less than a year later Senator Durbin had located the initial funding for the Chicago House Employment Program. In just two years more than 250 men and women have benefited from its training and placement services. Nevertheless, despite the success of Employment Program (over 40% placement rate) there remained a certain subsection of the Employment Program graduates who were still just not able to obtain initial employment.

The stage was set for a new kind of social enterprise. Stan worked with the Kellogg School of Business Management and the more than 150 local businesses that had helped support his work over the years. Together, they conducted market studies and online polls. And they asked lots of questions. Where are there gaps in the world of Social Enterprise? What type of business would these businesses most likely support? How could we offer careers, not just jobs?

Confident that he could work with local business people to combine a terrific product and a good cause, all signs pointed to a gourmet bakery. And thus Sweet Miss Giving's was born. Almost immediately, three of the agency's largest donors stepped up to the plate as investors, and Stan began working with them and their business expertise to refine the concept. Together they learned that their greatest potential was in "out the back door" bakery sales, and so the concept evolved from a neighborhood bakery to a business-to-business bakery supplying breakfast trays and sweets for corporate catering, parties, conferences, and other group gatherings.

Stan and the investors began talking with their friends, and soon they had pro-bono consulting for every aspect of the business - from construction to equipment to legal services. While the investors took the lead and applied their business experience toward the operations of the business, Stan turned back to his original passion: the Employment Program and the new six-week training program that would be needed to teach employable skills in baking, packaging, customer service, and delivery. He needed someone who had the heart of a social worker, the head of an experienced trainer, and the hands of a pastry chef.

Kristi Gorsuch, Sweet Miss Giving's Bakery Production Director, proved to be the best find imaginable. Kristi is a ten-year Disney veteran who had trained restaurant staff all over the globe. And, by the way, she had a pastry degree and was longing to enter the not-for-profit sector. Bakers from across the city, led by instructors at Kendall College, offered to help Kristi create, test, taste, and perfect the menu over a year-long search for the best recipes and ingredients. Baking out of Stan's home through that year, both the product and the training program were created.

It's hard to believe, but just recently our first class of formerly homeless interns graduated their six-week Sweet Miss Giving's training institute. These newly minted bakers, customer service associates, and package and delivery assistants have sacrificed more than anyone else to make this a reality. Four weeks of general employment training. Six more weeks of culinary training, spent crowded into a basement. All without pay. They put their lives on hold for the chance to be a part of this new venture and to enter a career, not just another job.

That is the story of Sweet Miss Giving's thus far. Now it is your turn to join the story and be a part of our future. We promise: you will love being a part of this one-of-a-kind venture where the best in baked goods meets the best of social services, transforming lives and appetites throughout Chicago!