• 

• 

• 

By Micah Cho
WKTV Contributor

Susan Schur lived on the streets of Grand Rapids for eight months. Now, thanks to the partnership of Dégagé Ministries and Paul’s Mom’s Cookies, she has a steady job and an apartment.   

“Dégagé helped me reinvent myself after being homeless,” Schur said.

Founded in 1967, Dégagé Ministries looks to serve homeless women in the Grand Rapids area. Men and women in need of assistance can visit Dégagé for food, hygiene, and legal services. Only women, however, can stay at the “Open-Door Women’s Center,” a homeless shelter for women in crisis.

Employing women that come through the shelter, Paul’s Mom’s Cookies gives women the opportunity to work for a real business and make a wage, something that’s difficult for homeless women. 

“We were able to use those women to come in and pay them a fair wage and teach them the trade of baking the cookies,” said co-owner Cindy Knape. “So to us it was a win-win because we’re not just giving money to a charity, but we’re helping it from the ground up.” 

Knape, along with co-founder Chris Mason, started the business out of Knape’s home kitchen and sold their cookies at the Rockford Farmers Market. After the cookie’s popularity took off, it was time to find a new place to start baking. Now, 20-30 volunteers and employees pack Trinity United Methodists Church’s kitchen on Tuesday mornings producing more than 1,500 cookies. 

“A year ago it took us three hours to bake 800 cookies and now its three hours to bake 1,500,” said cookie business manager Zenobia Taylor-Weiss. “So, we’re getting good at what we do”. 

Taylor-Weiss has noticed the different types of relationships that have been formed between the volunteers and the women from the open-door program. Because of the situations some of the women have gone through, Taylor-Weiss says there is nothing better than a strong support system. 

“The community that’s been created here… It’s been really beneficial to everybody,” said Taylor-Weiss.

Community has been especially beneficial to Schur. With an apartment and job, Schur is also a strong believer in the community that has been created at Paul’s Mom’s Cookies. 

“The volunteers and the rest of the workers are fabulous, I have great relationships with all of them,” said Schur. “I have their phone numbers and I can call them at any time if I have any questions and I just love it.” 

Paul’s Mom’s Cookies can be found in Forrest Hills Foods, 4668 Cascade Rd. SE; Kingma’s Market off Plainfield, 2225 Plainfield NE; and the Bridge Street Market, 405 Seward Ave. NW.

For updates on Paul’s Mom’s Cookies, you can visit their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/paulsmomscookie/)