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A New York City bakery built by a woman who lost everything to addiction and homelessness now makes a point of hiring people leaving New York rehabs, prison and early recovery. Janie Deegan, founder of Janie’s Life-Changing Baked Goods, told ABC7NY that her open-door hiring policy is deliberate, and her own story explains why.
Thirteen or fourteen years ago, Deegan said, she was addicted, homeless and what she described as a shell of a person. Drugs and alcohol were the only tools she had for facing life. In June 2013, something clicked and she wanted a life. Baking became the structure she used to rebuild it.
Why Baking Worked as Recovery
“Baking became meditative. It was controlled,” Deegan said. “My life had been so undisciplined for so long that I needed to learn how to follow steps.” Following a recipe gave her back a sense of capability, and bringing someone a cookie gave her self-esteem and pride she said she had never felt before.
That practice grew into a business famous for her invention, the pie crust cookie, and has now expanded with a new location on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The growth of the bakery tracks the growth of her recovery, year by steady year.
Hiring People the Way She Needed to Be Seen
Deegan’s hiring policy does not start with a resume. “I’m not looking just at your resume. I’m looking at who you are,” she said. Among her employees have been people right out of prison and people in recovery from addiction. She judges potential, not past mistakes, because she knows what it is to be defined by the worst chapter of your life.
“Anytime I tell my story, people are like, that’s not you,” Deegan said. “Because we have this idea of what an addict looks like, and it’s not like me. Addiction doesn’t spare anyone. What I look like in my worst moments isn’t truly who I am, just like the person you see on the street corner on the subway in their worst moments isn’t who they are.”
Employment is one of the strongest predictors of lasting recovery, which is why recovery-friendly hiring matters as much as clinical treatment for people rebuilding after rehabs.
Free Support That Carries People Through Early Recovery
Not every step in recovery costs money. Mutual-aid meetings such as AA and NA are free, require no insurance and meet daily in every New York City borough. Peer support groups, sober living networks and community organizations can fill the gap between formal treatment and independent life, especially for people who cannot afford extended care.
Paying for Rehab When Money Is Tight
Deegan’s story also shows who falls through the cracks. She was homeless before she recovered, and cost keeps many people from ever entering a program. Options exist for people without savings: Medicaid covers substance use treatment in New York, many rehab centers near me-level searches turn up sliding-scale and state-funded programs, and some facilities offer scholarships. Asking about payment plans costs nothing.
Finding Affordable Rehabs in New York City
Free and low-cost rehabs in New York City are within reach. Rehabs.org lists free and low-cost treatment options nationwide, and SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 can connect you to local programs at any hour. Call [NUMBER] to find affordable care and take the kind of next step that changed Deegan’s life.
Free Resources:
- AA and NA meetings (free, daily, all five NYC boroughs)
- SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7)
- Sliding-scale and Medicaid-funded rehabs in New York City
- Recovery-friendly employers and second-chance job programs
