A homeless jobs program is set to expand later this month by opening up a retail store in east Lawrence.
The Lawrence Community Shelter’s Good Dog! Biscuit & Treat program has rented space near Ninth and Connecticut streets to boost production of its homemade dog treats and to open a dog specialty shop.
“In the three years that we’ve had this program going, we’ve had 11 people who have worked with it move out of homelessness,” said Dianne Huggins, the assistant director of the shelter and leader of the dog biscuit program. “We’re thrilled with that number, but we think it can go even higher.”
Work is under way to convert space at 412 E. Ninth St. into a small retail shop that will sell the dog biscuits plus items and services from other small Lawrence businesses that cater to dog lovers.
Dough cut into bone shapes wait to be baked.
The new shop — tentatively named The Dog House — excites shelter leaders, but not as much as the possibility that the store will allow the program to boost the number of homeless people it employs. Currently, the program employs seven homeless people on a part-time basis, and pays them about $9 an hour for their work making and baking the biscuits.
“It has been important because it has allowed me to save a little bit of money for the first time in a long time,” said Jon McMillan, a shelter guest who works about six hours a week at the business.
The savings focus is a big one for the program, Huggins said. All of the employees must agree to set aside a portion of each paycheck into a savings program administered by the shelter. The savings is designed to give shelter guests money to help them find a new home.
In addition to the money, Huggins said the program gives the homeless important skills that they can take to any job.
“There is a lot about responsibility here,” Huggins said. “We have a schedule, and people are expected to stick to it. If they can’t make it to work, they have to call and tell me that.”
One of the bigger benefits has been that the program has given the homeless a recent job to put on their résumés. Mark Debarr said the program played an important role in helping him land a job with a local fast-food restaurant.
“Things immediately started to pick up after I got this job,” Debarr said.
The store is expected to open May 22. Current plans call for it to be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The store plans to operate as a cooperative, with about 10 local businesses selling goods or services. In addition to the dog biscuits, the store likely will have artwork featuring dogs, handmade dog collars, dog walking services, and the store is looking for a local potter to make dog dishes.
The store also plans to partner with the Lawrence Humane Society to promote pet adoption.
“We have this theme of homeless people helping homeless pets,” said Maureen Bernhagen, a Lawrence resident and former Sears executive who has volunteered to help market the program. “We would love to grow that concept nationally. We think it is a natural. The dogs need socialization, and the people need the dogs because their comfort is love.”
The biscuit program has been operating for the past three years inside the Lawrence Community Shelter at 10th and Kentucky streets, and has been using the kitchen at the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen.
The program will have dedicated space in the shelter’s new location, if shelter leaders are successful in moving the shelter from downtown into a warehouse near the Douglas County Jail in eastern Lawrence.
The program will continue to sell biscuits at the approximately half-dozen locations it started with, including at the Lawrence Farmers’ Market, The Merc, the Humane Society and several pet-related businesses in Lawrence.
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bblbfolks (anonymous) says…
Many years ago I managed a small convenience store in Olathe. I hired a homeless man who hitchhiked from Florida to be closer to his children. I let him sleep on a cot in the back room, and after a couple of paychecks found him a small appartment. With the help of a local church charity group, we got him extra bedding, clothes, dishes, and kitchen wares.
I wasn't looking to rescue anyone, but his story touched me. Guess what? Everyone has a story. I wish that I could help them all.
This group is doing amazing work, and I commend them for it.
hedro80 (anonymous) says…
This is a great program. I will definately shop at the store once it opens. Bought some of the dog treats at the Farmer's Market. My puppy loved them, my dad not so much...lol.
Irenaku (anonymous) says…
I live just around the corner from Good Dog! Biscuits and Treats, I think it is an excellent program!!
somedude20 (anonymous) says…
Those dog treats are like crack for dogs. Have not found a pooch that did not love em. good story good to see that some people still do care and try to be productive members of society.
geekin_topekan (anonymous) says…
Oak, you will notice that the negativity comes from small group of veteran posters who would dis their own grandmothers if she didnt agree with them, and yet they claim to be the majority and some go so far as to claim that they speak for everybody!!
Take the T vote as example. Said posters screeched for weeks about how they are the voice of the people and lost in a blow out 75/25 margin.
Take their voice for what it is worth to you. In my case, they are the opposite end of this dog treat business (if you know what I mean).
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
So, how many of Loring Henderson's clients are employed at this business? Is it really profitable and if so, where are the stats on the operation.
So if the kitchen at LINK was making biscuits,, then it stands to follow that LINK could be at the new shelter using the same new kitchen?
IndusRiver (anonymous) says…
No one is anti-homeless that I know - especially not me! You may call me anti-socialist if you like!
smitty (anonymous) says…
Some valuable links for self education;
this is from Rep D Moore:
.....The projected ****$2,862,000***** includes,
also, architectural, legal, and engineering fees, and contingency. The renovated building will
have sleeping space (emergency and transitional) for single adults and family units, kitchen and dining room, day room(s), meeting room, showers and bathrooms, laundry, storage rooms, and offices for shelter staff and representatives from Kansas Legal Services, the Regional Alcohol and Drug Assessment Center (RADAC), Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, ECKAN (East Central Kansas Community Action Agency) and other collaborating organizations.
**** Especially important, there will be a second building with space for the Lawrence Community Shelter's strong program for on site employment through its Good Dog! Gourmet Biscuits and Treats project which distributes to area stores and clinics dog treats made and packaged by homeless residents of the shelter. The projected cost of the secondary building, included in the $2,862,000 total projection, is $534,000.******
Here's the link to the shelter's current page on this business:
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/...
Quotes.....Early Wednesday mornings, Matt, Mark, Brian, Matthew and Tony gather .......to mix, bake, and package Good Dog! Biscuits & Treats......
....With a 2006 grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) a business plan was developed to initiate a small entrepreneurial project, to be planned by and to employee people experiencing homelessness. A shelter staff member offered to let the project use her pilot business (making gourmet dog biscuits) as a test area for training and employing homeless people using the services of the Lawrence Community Shelter (LCS). .......
What started as a grant by a religious charity has turned into a Moore's federal request (The projected cost of the secondary building, included in the $2,862,000 total projection, is $534,000).
This religious funded charitable start is also how the very first efforts for the wet shelter originated. Providing sleeping mats and a disastrous volunteer effort to provide shelter for those who could not pass the breathalyzer tests at the SA was created out of the very same religious tenet. Does the end result need be a transformation into exorbitant tax allocations?
Second....what is the explanation for the statements on the origination of the business and the staffer? This four yo business has four listed employees and vague statements as to the background or perhaps contractual agreements to the rights of ownership. Has the city passed off on this? There needs to be more information made available before I can see backing this endeavor with hundreds of thousands of $$ of start up (not operating) money.
http://www.gooddoglcs.org/
IndusRiver (anonymous) says…
Haven't been here for a while - family crisis. But I'm back...for a while I think.
Smitty - great stuff - just the kind of real news the public needs this access to. I'm plenty fed up with all the deceiving if it's just left up to the agencies to report.