On Chicago's South Side, a small bakery tries to keep pace with its own big dreams

Laine's Bake Shop is almost undetectable from the street in the Far South Side neighborhood of Morgan Park. The windows of the brick storefront, a former post office, are covered with dark curtains. The smells of vanilla, ginger and peanut butter don't quite reach the sidewalk.

Inside the tiny bakery, though, business is booming.

Laine's churns out hundreds of pounds of cookies each week destined for 55 Whole Foods Market stores throughout the Midwest, along with red velvet cheesecake brownies sold in 10 Starbucks cafes in Chicago. Laine's is, in many ways, a model for small food businesses with big dreams of broader distribution and social impact. It also serves as an example of how hard that journey can be.

In the past two years, founders Rachel and Jaryd Bernier-Green have endured financial struggles,