Gregory Schwartz
Mohnned Alzubaid
Western Michigan University
Timothy Palmer
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Everyday 60,000 people under age 18 are incarcerated. The Center for Human Rights reports that 76% of former inmates said finding work after being released was difficult or nearly impossible. Nearly two thirds of the respondents were unemployed or underemployed five years after being released from prison, with about 92% of employers running background checks according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It is not easy for youth with convictions to get jobs. As well, the rate of people returning to prison after release is 53%; if they get a job, that drops to 7%. If they get a job quickly after release, it drops to 3%.
Dale Anderson is fighting to change these statistics. His confectionery, Confections with Convictions, works to hire youth with criminal convictions to help them learn life skills, and stay employed. Additionally, ‘Confections with Convictions’ strives to only use ethically sourced ingredients, specifically, cacao. They accomplish this by being diligent in their supply chain and ensuring they know where their ingredients are sourced from.
Dale was inspired when he worked as a counselor to young people in the court system. Here he saw that while therapy was helpful, it was not the best solution to help these kids. He wanted a way to help the youth become more successful members of society. He realized the best way to do this was to give them a job and help them develop important life skills. His first thought was to start a construction company, but child labor laws made this impossible. He then fell on a confectionery that would create high quality, ethically sourced chocolate, made by young adults with a criminal background.
Confections with Convictions has been able to help numerous young adults with employment. As well, their commitment to serving youth has brought light to these issues in the Kalamazoo community as Dale is frequently asked to speak to local organizations and is profiled in Kalamazoo media.
Confections with Convictions' mission and dedication to local youth attracts and retains loyal customers. According to Dale “The people who come to Confections with Convictions don’t need to be here, this is a luxury product so they come for the message.” These customers come for the message and stay for the high-quality, delicious chocolate. On top of the message, they offer a free taste of chocolate to all new customers, welcoming them and creating a type of bond, almost like family.
Dale has been able to help countless teens in his time at Confections with Convictions. He finds that the youth are looking for a way to change and just need the opportunity to learn skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Dale offers this to them, and that makes these employees loyal to Dale and the business.
It isn’t easy to change or cause change in a community, but Dale and Confections with Convictions have certainly achieved this. As Dale says, “People come for the message and stay for the chocolate”.
Dale sources only fair trade chocolate. The Fair-Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
Confections with Convictions and Dale Anderson are creating positive change in the community and in the lives of the young adults he nurtures.
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Confections with Convictions is a unique addition to the gourmet food scene in Kalamazoo Michigan. The company specializes in truffles hand crafted with fair trade organic chocolate from original recipes by chocolatier Dale Anderson. They also stock organic, gourmet and fair-trade chocolates from around the world.
Dale Anderson, chocolatier and founder of Confections with Convictions, has worked as a counselor with young people in the court system for several years. Through this work it became clear that talk therapy, while helpful, was often not enough to overcome the many barriers they face. Dale wanted to develop a more powerful way to help them become successful members of society.
