Daybreak blends a recipe for success

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Noelle Brown has found the recipe for success. Every weekday she's here in the Daybreak kitchens on Wayne Avenue in Dayton churning out the dough to make Lindy's gourmet dog treats - but when she started here she had a secret.

"Well when I first came to Dayton, I was homeless," said Brown.

"The then struggling college graduate took the job, not knowing that Daybreak was a homeless shelter.

"I never told them, because it just sounded sad - 'I'm homeless and I need a job.'"

Today she proudly shares her success story with the homeless teens she now trains to make and run Lindy gourmet pet treats company.
 
"Not only are they here doing job training, then outside of here they're also attending employee building classes, job clubs where they can also work on interviewing skills building their resume," explained Maggie Shergill, director of Lindy Company.

Linda Kramer, CEO of Daybreak said it's one of the few self-sustaining job training programs in our region.

"They're involved in all parts of the business," said Kramer. "And to develop those skills as well as the inter-personal skills that you need on the job."

Skills that Lindy graduate-trainee Walter Peebles said got him a good job at Wendy's.

"Actually I couldn't do it with out them. I really couldn't," Peebles said.

Although they're not exactly rolling in the dough just yet, Brown said the important thing to remember is how this program is changing lives everyday.
 
"As hard as it is sometimes, it's good to talk about it because I've been there and I got out of it and I built my life up and I believe working here working with these kids that they can do the same thing."