FLINT, MI-- A homeless shelter is opening a bakery in Flint.

Carriage Town Ministries is planning to open a $950,000 bakery in 2021 as a spin off to the BlueLine Donuts project started in 2017. The project trains residents at the shelter how to bake doughnuts and bagels so they’re certified to work in bakeries and make living wages.

Those baked goods are then delivered wholesale to businesses and organizations like Kettering University and Foster Coffee Company in Flint.

“The whole underlying thing isn’t about doughnuts and bagels,” said Carriage Town’s Executive Director Dallas Gatlin. “It’s about creating an opportunity to train people in some employable skill.”

‘The mission is redeemable’

BlueLine Donuts began after having some conversations within the ministry, Gatlin said.

“We have a culture that has always given to continuous growth, which means always looking for ways to be more efficient with your given resources,” Gatlin said. “We need to train folks to obtain some work.”

So, they decided on expanding their kitchen into a bakery. With the help of nearby bakeries, like Donna’s Donuts and BJ’s Donuts, residents at Carriage Town were taught how to bake doughnuts and bagels.

BlueLine Donuts is opened at the center’s main building, 605 Garland Street, between 7 and 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

“We did it once a week because it was doable and sustainable,” Gatlin said. “It’s like the old Catholic fish fry, that’s when we do it so come join us.”

Police officers, firefighters and first-responders are served for free. The prices at the bakery -- $1 for a doughnut or $1 for coffee -- are suggested donations, Gatlin said.

Some shelter residents trained through the program have even been able to get work else where, including a man who has gone on to make doughnuts at a bakery in Grand Blanc.

Purchase, assess, design and construct

Carriage Town Bakery will be located at the northeast corner of Garland Street and University Avenue. The building used to house an old gas station in the 1920s, Gatlin said.

“When we do a project like this, we don’t borrow money,” Gatlin said. “This is a significant investment on the property. We’ve had significant supporters already.”

Carriage Town purchased the building using a donation from the Hagerman foundation and two anonymous donors.

The donors also covered the cost of a required environmental assessment of the property.

Funding from the Local Initiative Support Corporation provided Carriage Town the funding for an architectural design of the bakery.

A completed building and fully equipped bakery will require an invested of just over $950,000. Fundraising will begin in the fall of this year and continue through 2020.

“We have no mortgages at Carriage Town so building renovation will begin when funds are secured,” Gatlin stated.

Construction of the bakery will begin in 2021.

“In the meantime, we’ll continue to grow Carriage Town Bakery featuring BlueLine Donuts that operates out of our kitchen,” Gatlin said.

A new spot to gather as a community

Part of building Carriage Town Bakery, Gatlin said, is building a stronger sense of community.

“It gives people in Flint a place to stop,” he said.

The bakery will employ between six and eight bakers-in-training. The trainees will be encouraged to enroll in Mott Community College’s Culinary Arts program with support incentives.

This is the seventh year Carriage Town Ministries’ BlueLine Donuts has partnered with MCC.

“They bring students and instructors in and bake with our residents all day, the desserts are served with residents’ evening meals,” Gatlin said.

The project, according to Gatlin, will address a long-time blighted corner in the University Corridor with a sustainable presence.

“Most importantly, it will provide a place to learn and work for Carriage Town residents who are sincerely trying to put their lives back together,” Gatlin said. “We want people to think of Carriage Town in the University Corridor as a great neighbor. We also want them to look at our people who come from extreme poverty and say we’re glad they’re our neighbors too.”