Honey and social justice — keys in creating self-worth for ex-offenders in Beelove program

An employee of The North Lawndale Employment Network, a North Lawndale-based nonprofit organization, and Sweet Beginnings, LLC, packages beelove, a line of honey-based products made by formerly incarcerated individuals. | Erik Unger

When Darren Cox was released from prison after 31 years, he didn’t know where to start when it came to launching a new chapter in his life.

The search for a job after prison release is a tough go because of the stigma ex-cons often encounter in the workforce. And some end up falling back into the circumstances that led to incarceration in the first place.

In Cox’s case, he needed to learn how to use a computer.

“I was in jail for a long time; I didn’t have any skills when I came out,” said Cox. “A friend recommended me to see if North Lawndale [Employment Network] could help me out. I didn’t know anything about computers or phones. I told them my problems and they said, ‘OK, don’t worry;’ they made me feel comfortable and safe.

He turned to North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN), an organization that helps people from North Lawndale — and other communities — find work to ease the transition from prison back to their communities.

“[NLEN] helped me work on computers, and I was able to get one for myself. I was able to become comfortable with using computers. And I went through their ‘Bridge’ program; anger management, job skills, and OSHA. That led me to a job at Sweet Beginnings.”

Darren Cox is a North Lawndale Employment Network alumnus.

Cox, was hired by Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a North Lawndale-based nonprofit that produces beelove, a line of honey-based products made by formerly incarcerated individuals. (The honey is also an ingredient of Haymarket Brewing’s “Harold’s ’83 Honey Ale,” a beer named after a fictional Harold’s Chicken Shack location number, and for the year Chicago elected its first Black mayor, Harold Washington.)

beelove’s 12 oz. “Chicagoland raw, natural honey.”

“It was a good transition for me to see how handmade, natural products are made; it was a good experience for me because I learned a lot about myself being productive and having a job,” said Cox. “I took all the advice they gave me and just applied it to my thinking so I can move forward.”

The honey that Cox and his beelove colleagues made can be foundon the shelves of Mariano’s supermarket locations across Chicago, and in Green Grocer. The honey, along with other products such as body lotion, shower gel, and lip balm are available online.

And beelove is in talks with a high-end beauty store chain to sell their products.

Sweet Beginnings, LLC employees pack and label beelove’s “Chicagoland raw, natural honey.”

Brenda Palms Barber, NLEN’s and Sweet Beginnings, LLC’s CEO, remembers a time when Cox’s story may not have been possible due to how some folks didn’t believe in North Lawndale — or its citizens.

People who find jobs through NLEN, specifically with Sweet Beginnings, go through a 90-day “transitional job” period where they work for the nonprofit and it’s subsidiary, and then job seekers receive assistance finding permanent employment. Earlier this year, NLEN celebrated it’s 20-year anniversary.

“The idea of a jobs program with formerly incarcerated men and women and honey bees; it just wasn’t intuitive,” said Palms Barber. “They thought this black woman from Denver has lost her mind. What does she think she can do being on the West Side of Chicago with jobs and beekeepers?

“It was interesting to sort of create — or disrupt — what people thought about local honey and that it was being produced in a community where people didn’t expect anything sweet and good to come out of the high violence and drug activity in our neighborhood that something sweet and good like honey is produced in North Lawndale — that’s intentional.”

Amid the initial chatter from naysayers, Palms Barber found a fellow bee aficionado at City Hall: former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

“Mayor Daley saw an article in the paper about us,” said Palms Barber. “And he invited me to his office to come meet with him because he had a fascination and an appreciation for honeybees to begin with. He said, ‘You know, this is a great idea.’ It was the first time that someone really had affirmed the concept.”

Brenda Palms Barber, North Lawndale Employment Network and Sweet Beginnings, LLC CEO

Cox says he’s secured employment with Austin’s Forty Acres Fresh Market.

“It’s a relatively new company but growing,” said Cox. “It’s a pretty good place to go if you want to work.”

He also made a donation toward NLEN’s cause because he knows how tough it is for ex-offenders like himself to turn their lives around.

Cox sent $50 to NLEN — from his laptop.