Stone Hearth Bakery, Café, and Catering services are social enterprises operated by the not-for-profit MetroWorks Employment Association. The association (formerly known as the Human Resource Development Association) was established in to provide meaningful training and employment opportunities for individuals 19 years of age and older who are living with mental illness and experiencing barriers to employment.
Stone Hearth Bakery opened in 1982. It is a supported work environment where program participants work five days a week alongside skilled bakers performing a number of essential tasks necessary for the operation of a full service bakery including:
- Use of commercial ovens
- Weighing and shaping dough
- Rolling bagels
- Slicing and bagging bread products
- Inventory control
- Sales
- Restocking of retail shelves
Stone Hearth Café & Catering services opened in January 2015 on the lower level of the Carpenter, Millwright Trades College located in Sackville. It is a supported work environment where graduates of MetroWorks Options Work Activity Food Service and Customer Service programs perform essential tasks necessary to work as a Line Cook in the food and restaurant industry, including:
- Preparing, seasoning a cooking a wide range of foods, including soups, salads, entrees and deserts
- Garnishing, arranging and serving food
- Inventory control including checking for freshness of food an availability of ingredients on hand prior to cooking.
- Cleanliness of work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes and silverware
- Quality customer service in food and restaurant industry
Enhanced Training
In addition to skills training our program participants also receive training in:
- Food Handling
- WHIMIS
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Workplace Equity
- Stress Management
- Customer Service
- Job Maintenance
- Accepting the role of an employee
- Accepting supervision
- Monitoring work and work needs
- Working with co-workers
- Responding to change
- Being a productive worker
All profits from the Stone Hearth Bakery, Café & Catering are reinvested back into our programs to help us further enhance employment opportunities for our program participants.