The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported that Utah had 456 deaths related to opioid overdose in 2017.
The Beehive State has a rate of 15.5 deaths per 100,000 people yearly due to opioid addiction, which is higher than the national average of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 people. In an effort to combat the growing addiction problem that is plaguing the state, Flourish Bakery has extended its hand to help those who want to help themselves.
Since opening in January of 2018, Flourish Bakery has operated as a second chance for those who were once burdened with problems such as addiction or incarceration.
The bakery offers a paid, 12-month internship training program followed by a three month externship opportunity in order to help interns establish connections and job skills in their career field.
“We are very involved in the recovery community,” says community outreach manager, Erica Soucie. “We go to Fit to Recover [a community center that focuses on the gathering of sober individuals through fitness and music] every week as a team.”
In 2018, Flourish Bakery exceeded expectations in terms of program completion rates. It was predicted that only 30% of interns would go on to complete the training program, when in reality 50% of interns would go on to a successful recovery.
“I picked up everything pretty quick,” says manager-in-training, A.J. Collette. “You learn to become more intentional about managing your time.”
Flourish Bakery recently expanded into the food truck industry. The artwork and design of the new truck can be seen on the bakery’s Instagram page.
Flourish Bakery is also expanding in-house operations by bringing in a new class of interns, along with the upcoming implementation of a lunch menu.
Flourish Bakery can be found at 1575 State St. in South Salt Lake. The bakery is housed within Salt Lake Community College’s South City Campus.
At the moment, Flourish Bakery takes only online orders. You can fill out an order form on the Flourish Bakery website. Check out the bakery’s Facebook page for more information.
