Inside Buckhead's Peachtree Church, Wonderfully Made bakery's volunteers and program participants roll dough, weigh ingredients, and prepare cookies as part of an effort to make about 20,000 cookies a year.
But the work happening around the tables is about more than what comes out of the oven.
Wonderfully Made provides a community for adults with intellectual disabilities, offering a place to build friendships, learn new skills, and participate in activities after high school.
For Troy Millikan, better known around the bakery as "T-Dog," that community has become an important part of his life.
Millikan has been part of Wonderfully Made for nearly three years. While working across from volunteer Cathy Sasser, the two talked about everything from cookie dough to one of Millikan's favorite performers: Michael Jackson.
Sasser has only volunteered with the organization for about a month, but she said she has already seen the relationships participants have built.
"They inspire each other," Sasser said. "That's part of the community that they have built together."
Kelly Kannwischer, co-founder of Wonderfully Made, said finding that kind of community can become more difficult for adults with intellectual disabilities once high school ends.
"So we have adults with intellectual disabilities who have a really difficult time finding friends or community after high school," Kannwischer said.
High school can provide a structured day, activities, and a built-in group of friends. Kannwischer said Wonderfully Made was created to help provide sustained community as participants move into adulthood.
She has also watched Millikan change during his time with the organization. Kannwischer said he was shy and hesitant when he first arrived. Now, she describes him as a leader who looks out for the other Wonder Makers.
"If somebody's having a bad day, he'll go and reach in and say, 'Hey, come on, we can do this together,'" Kannwischer said.
The bakery is one part of the organization's programming. Wonder Makers prepare cookies sold online that can be shipped or picked up. The bakery also provides cookies for corporate gifts, catering, graduations and other special events.
Beyond the bakery, Wonderfully Made offers activities including music, sports, art, and educational programs.
For Kannwischer, however, the larger mission comes back to a simple question: Where do adults with intellectual disabilities find people who expect to see them?
"Where do they find friends?" she said. "Where do they have people looking for them in the morning? Are you there today?"
For Millikan, Wonderfully Made has become one answer to those questions: a place to make cookies, build friendships, and belong.
