Dave's Killer Bread and Nature Bake Partner with Living Yoga

Dave’s Killer Bread and Nature Bake Partner with Local Nonprofit, Living Yoga, to Help Support Programming for Inmates in Oregon

 

Dave Dahl of Dave’s Killer Bread/Nature Bake attributes quality programming, skill development, and mental health services during his final prison stay for most of the success he has experienced since leaving prison.

 

This year Dave’s Killer Bread and Nature Bake will help sponsor Living Yoga’s programs for incarcerated youth and adults in seven correctional facilities in Oregon. Through bread sales at their local retail outlet in Milwaukie, in-store events in the community, and sponsorship of Living Yoga’s annual gala in October the company has committed to donating a minimum of $8000 to Living Yoga this year. Dave Dahl will be the Honorary Chair of Living Yoga’s Annual Gala this year and will also be speaking at the event.

 

Since 1998, Living Yoga has been providing a yoga wellness program to incarcerated students. Beginning in 2001, the organization expanded its mission to include addiction treatment programs and other community based services as way to intervene and offer skills that may help prevent future incarceration. Nearly 75% of inmates in Oregon Prisons today have substance abuse problems, and over 45% have on-going mental health needs. One in fifteen Oregon youth (ages 12-17) suffers from alcohol abuse (about 21,000 youth). Adolescent drinkers perform worse in school, and have increased risk for depression, suicide, violence, and incarceration. 

 

Yoga has been used in drug and alcohol recovery programs and correctional facilities for over 25 years in the United States. Yoga not only helps people adjust to their current environments inside the institutions, but also provides skills needed to be successful upon release. Through regular yoga practice, improved health benefits can be observed in three categories: physiological, psychological, and biochemical. 

 

In Oregon, for each person that re-enters the criminal justice system, it is a cost of approximately $71,000 to state tax payers. Programs that support rehabilitating past offenders save our state hundreds of thousands of dollars. 25% of Dave's Killer Bread/NatureBake employees have a criminal record. Dave believes this practice has exponential effects; not only are these workers and their families' lives transformed, but they are highly motivated—and grateful employees.  Living Yoga students choose to participate in classes. If they are involved in behavior altercations or incidents they are pulled from the program. Students are motivated to practice good behavior and continue to work towards positive life changes. Some classes have more than 60 people on waiting lists to get in, and many of the students have been waiting for more than a year’s time. Students leaving prison often stay in contact with Living Yoga and become volunteers while continuing their yoga practices. Yoga provides a doorway to healthy community and alternatives to support pro-social and pro-sobriety lifestyles. There are over 100 yoga studios in the Portland Metro Area. Living Yoga also manages free programs for those re-entering community at two local yoga studios.