Degage Ministries and Paul's Moms' Cookies partner up FTW!

How's this for a winning partnership? The Heartside mission, Degage Ministries, partners with Paul's Moms' Cookies to provide job, business and life-skills training to women who are part of Degage's Open Door Women's Center. As part of the program, the women are learning the process of baking cookies each week and are running a booth at the Rockford Farmers' Market with the proceeds benefiting the center.

And, of course, the end customer gets to enjoy a delicious artisan cookie. #FTW.

Pauls' Moms' Cookies is a business started by two moms with the goal of raising money for a charity. Marge Palmerlee, Executive Director at Degage, said they were approached to partner with the company: "Chris Mason and Cindy Knape, are the women who started the business. We created a pilot program that pays an hourly rate through the summer. The goal is to give women the skills like salesmanship and how to run a business so they so they can get a job after the program is over."

Through the partnership, former Open Door patrons work alongside the founders of Pauls' Moms' Cookies through various parts of the operation, including baking, operations and selling. Kristie Newkirk is one of the two women working with the program and says it has been a terrific learning experience. "I learned how to work together with othe r people and how to trust," she says. She says selling at the farmers' market has made her get out of her comfort zone and talk to people she normally wouldn't be interacting with.

After the summer program, Parmerlee is very optimistic about the future. "Right now we are just at the Rockford Farmers' Market but we are looking to grow," she says. "Our goal is [to] hire more women for the program."

To learn more about the organizations involved, you can view their sites here and here.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor