BRUNSWICK, Ohio (WJW) — There is a sweet new addition to Brunswick, and the city’s newest bakery has a mission greater than serving up baked goods.

The majority of staff at Boundless Confection Connection, a wholesale bakery open since late June, are adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who bake and deliver made-from-scratch cookies, bundt cakes, muffins and turnovers across Medina County.

“A lot of people don’t give adults with disabilities the opportunity to show they are just as capable as anybody else to do jobs and to have employment and to be part of the community,” said Bakery Operations Manager Izzie Fox Woodcock, who develops the recipes.

Part of the nonprofit Boundless, the bakery aims to increase job skills and boost the confidence of employees, so they are able to transition to other job opportunities as presented.

“While people with disabilities are in school, they’ve got entire classes, entire groups that work with them,” Woodcock said. “All of these resources there they’ve got but once they age out of school all of that kind of falls away.”

Employees range in age from their early 20s to nearly 60 years old.

Jake Crawford, 21, who graduated high school in 2020, said he loves working at the bakery with his co-workers who have become friends.

“I like making muffins and stuff, I make muffins and bundt cakes and stuff. It’s really fun doing that and I like using my hands a lot,” Crawford said.

It’s a winning recipe of hard work and attention to detail for a group of dedicated employees looking for community and to serve the one they call home, Woodcock said.

“It boosts their spirit it lets them know people do want this and they do add value to the community, which a lot of them love to see,” Woodcock said. “They want to feel like they’re heard, they’re seen, they’re valued.”

Click here for more on the bakery.