- [Gwen] We have been over a hundred year mono economy,
and suddenly that economy of coal has collapsed
and is all but gone.
(eerie music)
We have a sort of social haunting.
Unemployment brings depression brings addiction
brings jail time with no reprieve.
We went through a dark night of the soul
tryin' to figure out what in the world to do.
We fueled the industrial revolution.
It's our way of life.
Here's my thoughts on that.
We don't have an aversion to science.
We know about carbon emissions,
but we don't wanna be on unemployment or worse,
be slingin' drugs for a living.
Cause I gotta history.
We all deserve a second chance,
so let's try to build a new economy.
That's kinda what has happened with this bakery project.
(gentle folk music)
- If you put a little finesse to it,
it will be smooth as silk.
And if you're eatin' somethin' really pretty,
it tastes different than somethin' that's not.
(Gwen laughs)
Placebo effect.
(Gwen laughs)
- We have to have it 900 degrees,
and you gotta keep it good and hot.
You can't forget it.
A little sayin' since I was a kid,
if you name it after somebody that loves you,
if it burns, then they really love you.
(laughs)
That's an old wives tale.
(gentle folk music)
- [Brad] You know after I got out,
work was impossible.
I mean look at me, you know, tattoos everywhere,
I have felonies.
So nobody's gonna say "You're perfect for this job," ya know?
And Gwen started talking about the bakery.
I said "Bake?" You know?
I cook Ramen noodles.
- [Gwen] What people around here have been used to,
has typically been this bread that's kinda like
the lint that you take out of your dryer.
So we began to try to source the best things
we could get our hands on,
and we began to bake from those things.
And it's not been easy.
- When he put me on the pie crust, that day,
I said "Look, it's whooped me, I quit, I ain't doin' it,
I'm not doin' this pie crust."
The next day, I come in, she had the rest of that pie crust.
She said "Look, you fall off of a horse, you get back on it.
Get on that pie crust!"
- You just gotta stay at it.
You can't become discouraged when somethin' don't work out.
Cause sometimes, machinery fails you, sometimes
ingredients will fail you.
But we are humans, so we fail too.
(gentle guitar music)
- I lived a terrible life.
I mean I wouldn't buy a loaf of bread,
but I'd go buy me a rock.
I mean I was a terrible, terrible person.
I can't take that back now.
But this place picked me up.
- [Gwen] You know, some of us haven't been incarcerated,
but it was better luck than conduct, myself included.
- [Brad] 10 years ago, addiction was taboo here.
Now if you're in recovery, they're praising you
to give you motivation.
And this is kinda like the center point for it all,
in our county.
People are seeing that we deserve a second chance.
(gentle music)
- [Gwen] We have created an inclusive place
of love and belonging for whoever wants to come.
No matter what their religion,
no matter what their sexual orientation,
no matter what the background,
no matter what the race.
We tried to make a place where everybody can fit in.
I need that place, too.
And, just to be a part of it is very rewarding.
It's my take on it.
(gentle music)
- [Man] You're about to lose your bandanna.
- I'm 'bout to lose it!
- [Man] You told me to say if your hair was--
- It's not only my bandanna that I'm about to lose.
- [Man] Okay.
- No, I'm kiddin'.
(laughs)
- [Evelyn] I don't try to let things get me down,
cause I know there's always tomorrow.
I just love this place,
I mean it's really helped me a whole lot.
- [Brad] I can pretty much cook anything now,
and to me it's the best feeling in the world,
cause I'm like "Man, look where I'm at now."
I love my life right now.
I love what I do.
- I've always been the black sheep in my family,
which gives me a heart for others who fall into that trap.
(gentle music)
(upbeat guitar music)
- [Narrator] Thanks for watching this video.
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♪ Shady grove, my little love, shady grove my darlin' ♪
♪ Shady grove, my little love, I'm goin' back to Harlan ♪
(crowd cheers and laughs)
- [Gwen] Thank ya!