Haley House offers job training and great food

Dave Hadden

For better or worse, development is changing the face of Dudley Square. Haley House, a bakery and café nonprofit operating since the end of the summer, certainly seems to be a change for the better.

And while Haley House is the first café operating in Dudley Square to offer healthy food choices with organically grown ingredients, feature work by local artists, and sell fairly traded coffee, even to say that Haley House is more then just a bakery is to somehow miss the point.

The main purpose of Haley House is to offer job training and placement to underemployed Boston adults in the baking trades. The six month training program generally caters to those post incarceration or rehab, which is all the more important in times where the CORI check is shutting more and more doors to employment opportunities

This baking program is more than a class, but a fully operational business. The Boston area’s finest cafes including Toscanini’s, The Other Side, and 1369 Coffee House all purchase the pastries made here. Mark LaHud of 1369 noted that ‘we like the idea that Haley House was a constructive program, but what really won us over was the quality. If it wasn’t such good food, we wouldn’t buy it.”

While the bakery/café in Dudley is less than a year old, the Haley House is actually celebrating its 40th anniversary. Started in the south end in 1966 by Kathleen McKenna, it began as a homeless shelter which eventually launched a bakery training program for its residents. According to McKenna, the idea to expand into Dudley was a logical one.

Because of the proximity of Dudley to the south end, there were plenty of ties with the population as well as local developers. Through partnerships with the Madison Park Redevelopment Corp. and Dudley Square Main Streets, the project was seen as a great opportunity expand its mission for job training while feeding the demands of a growing bakery business.

The arrival of Haley House in Dudley has challenged a number of assumptions, namely that of a lack of demand for healthy eating choices. The heavy amount of compliments and emails that the staff receive clearly negate this idea, and shed light on how much it means for these choices to be available. According to McKenna, “people know this food has value and appreciate it, but it just wasn’t available locally”.

“People here appreciate creativity so we try to appeal to them by improvising with our menu”, says Didi Emmons, head chef. And improvise they do; the soups, salads, and entrees rotate on a daily basis with influences from Caribbean to soul food. An important difference to note however is that despite all entrees being made by scratch with nutritious locally grown ingredients, they all cost less than six dollars.

Another assumption is the idea that social responsibility is something exclusive to the affluent. All coffee sold at Haley House is Equal Exchange, meaning that the farmers are supported by unions, and environmentally sound practices are standard. Furthermore, Emmons works with local officer Bill Baxter to help at risk youth learn about world trade and global solidarity. Considering this, McKenna proudly notes that “we all spend money, but how often do we have the opportunity to spend it where it will do good?”

One could consider this such an opportunity, or one could simply come in for a good meal. Or in another way, one could just enjoy Haley House as a place to sit and meet others around the neighborhood. However it is used, Haley House’s many functions are undoubtedly contributing to a healthier, more vibrant local Dudley Square. It is located at 2139 Washington Street.