When Kalen McAllister worked as a Buddhist chaplain at Farmington Correctional Facility, she began to notice a troubling pattern among inmates nearing their release dates.
“[The inmates] were panicked … They were saying ‘Okay, when we get out, what are we gonna do? We can’t find a job… we’ll be on the streets,’” she recalled while talking with host Don Marsh on Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air.
The individuals McAllister met with understood that – devoid of critical resources like job opportunities and support networks – it might not be long before they ended up back behind bars.
The Laughing Bear Bakery in downtown St. Louis is the product of McAllister’s decision to take matters into her own hands. She opened the bakery after she retired from the prison in 2015, and today the nonprofit shop serves up delicious cookies, pies and its signature “Bear Candy” to individuals and to stores across the city and beyond.
The bakery’s employees all have one critical characteristic in common: a felony record.
Pete Wallace, kitchen manager of Laughing Bear Bakery, joined the conversation to discuss his own experience reentering society following incarceration.
He explained, “Having a felony restricts you from employment. It restricts you from housing – voting, in some cases.”
“You just kind of get rejected at every single turn,” he added.
McAllister aims to change lives and reduce recidivism through a nonjudgmental approach to reentry reform. She does not ask – nor, she stressed, does she care – what crime her employees committed.
“On our application, we don’t ask what they did,” she said. “We ask when they got out and if they have any baking skills.”
McAllister endeavors to provide her employees – individuals she considers like family – with the self-worth to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.
“We really want people to feel good about themselves,” she said. “And I think that’s what’s gonna change everything.”
St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Alex Heuer, Evie Hemphill, Lara Hamdan, and Xandra Ellin give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.
