Lucy J’s Bakery opened in 2018 as a local non-profit organization dedicated to providing job training and living wage employment for parents who have lived – or who currently live — at the Dorothy Day House (DDH). The faith-based shelter provides temporary housing and support for unhoused families.

We talked to Tracy Burgess, the Executive Director of the Dorothy Day House and co-owner, along with her husband Josh, of Lucy J’s, about their work. 

1. Tell us about Lucy J's. Why is the work you do important?

When we opened the bakery in September 2018, no one was making a base pay of $15 an hour in the hospitality industry. Even large corporations like Amazon didn’t start paying their employees $15 an hour until October of 2018. But we believe that all people should be able to earn a living wage and support their families. 

2. How did Lucy J's start?

Josh and I were baking out of our kitchen starting in 2012. At that time, we also started volunteering for the DDH by taking desserts to their Sunday Night Prayer. The DDH wanted a social enterprise, and we wanted a restaurant. Neither one of us was quite sure how it would all work out. It wasn’t until 2016 that we met Shawn Massey who was in charge of leasing the retail space at Crosstown Concourse. He was assisting DDH with another project, and before we had a business plan finalized, Sister Maureen Griner, co-founder of the DDH, boldly asked him if he would like a Dorothy Day bakery in the building. After talking with numerous investors and foundations, we were able to open as a 501c3 nonprofit job training program in September 2018.

Read more at I Love Memphis here.