By Libby Leyden-Sussler

News Correspondent

A newly-forged partnership between Northeastern and soup kitchen Haley House provides students with a snack option with a homemade twist while reinvigorating a local community training program.
The Haley House, named after Boston social activist Leo Haley, began in 1966 when founders John and Kathe McKenna decided to house homeless people they found on the streets around the South End. The McKennas provided them a place to sleep, shower,  clothes and something to eat.
In 1996, Haley House began training homeless men to bake as part of a Transitional Employment Program (TEP) at their 12 Dade St. bakery in Roxbury’s Dudley Square. TEP functions to give ex-convicts and the homeless a chance at economic empowerment after incarceration.
“TEP provides the gentlemen in our program with real work experience, as well as tutoring for GED exams and assistance with getting into schools,” said Stonehill College alumna Elizabeth Orr, who works at Haley House.
Northeastern is partnering with the Haley House’s TEP to create another retail opportunity for the program.
Chocolate chip cookies baked by TEP participants are already being offered to Northeastern students at On The Go in the Curry Student Center as part of Haley House’s “Cookie Today, Better Tomorrow” program.
While most of the profits from the cookie sales benefits those at Haley House, a portion of the $2.80 pack of cookies will go directly into a scholarship fund for Northeastern students.
“It’s nice to get a fresh-baked cookie after a day of class. I also think its great to help people who are looking for a new start,” said Amanda Troger, a junior nursing major.
The Haley House has two locations: one in Dudley Square and another at 23 Dartmouth St. The Roxbury location features a Bakery Cafe where the TEP is located.
The training program and partnership with Northeastern turned into a mutually beneficial deal. Haley House employees selling cookies at Northeastern allows the Haley House to bring its training program and for Northeastern to make a profit from the cookies in return.
“I would be comfortable with buying cookies made by the men at the Haley House because I know it’s for a good cause,” Kendal Smith, a senior engineering and math major, said. “I think it’s great that Northeastern gives back because as an institution we have so much it’s only right we contribute what we have to offer.”

Orr is one of several live-in community members at the house who, in exchange for room and board, provide a variety of services for the Haley House.
“During my sophomore year at Stonehill I signed up for an ‘Urban Plunge’ at the House,” Orr said. “It was my direct interaction with the guests at the Haley House over that weekend that convinced me to act in the service of others.”
Cookies are for sale at On The Go and campus orders for the Bakery have already been increasing.
“The only complication I can see arising is the cookie order at Northeastern growing too quickly,”  Orr said. “After our first delivery they called us back to triple their order.”