Just a year ago, Chukurah Ali had fulfilled a dream of owning her own bakery — Coco's Desserts in St. Louis, Mo. — which specialized in the sort of custom-made ornate wedding cakes often featured in baking show competitions. Ali, a single mom, supported her daughter and mother by baking recipes she learned from her beloved grandmother.
But last February, all that fell apart, after a car accident left Ali hobbled by injury, from head to knee. "I could barely talk, I could barely move," she says, sobbing. "I felt like I was worthless because I could barely provide for my family."
