Help Lyle and Fifth Tier Bakery Rebuild

If you know Lyle Houston, you know that Fifth Tier Bakery has never been just a bakery.

Lyle created Fifth Tier to be a place where people gather. A place filled with plants, coffee, love, incredible baked goods—and, most importantly, people. It was intentionally designed to feel warm and welcoming, a place where friends become family, where you can sit for a while, have a conversation, celebrate something wonderful, or simply feel a little less alone.

And that spirit comes directly from Lyle.

Over the years, Fifth Tier has opened its doors to our community in countless ways. The bakery has hosted meetings for an autism social group, providing a welcoming and accepting space to gather. When members of our community have struggled, Lyle has quietly stepped forward to help—sometimes contributing financially, sometimes offering his time, and sometimes literally showing up at someone’s door with a quiche and cookies.

And sometimes what Lyle gives is even simpler: a chair, a cup of coffee, and a kind and generous ear. He listens without judgment. He makes people feel welcome. He makes people feel like they belong.

Now, the person who has created that space for so many of us needs us to create that same sense of community around him.

Two nights ago, Fifth Tier Bakery was completely vandalized.

The damage is extensive and heartbreaking. A space Lyle has poured his creativity, resources, countless hours and so much of himself into was senselessly damaged in a matter of hours.

And painfully, this is not the first time Lyle has had to endure something like this.

Those closest to Lyle also know that he has already carried tremendous personal loss, including the deaths of several family members. Through grief, hardship and challenges that would have caused many people to retreat from the world, Lyle has continued to do exactly the opposite.

He kept opening his doors.

He kept baking. He kept welcoming people in. He kept helping others. He kept celebrating our birthdays, weddings, holidays and milestones. He kept listening. He kept giving.

So this GoFundMe isn’t simply about repairing a bakery.

It’s about helping rebuild a place that represents something important in our community—and taking care of someone who has spent years quietly taking care of so many others.

Funds raised will help Lyle repair the damage to Fifth Tier Bakery, replace what was destroyed or lost, cover the unexpected expenses associated with the vandalism, and provide some breathing room while he works to get the bakery fully back on its feet.

If you’ve ever walked through the doors of Fifth Tier and felt welcome, enjoyed something Lyle created, attended a gathering there, received one of his quiet acts of kindness—or simply believe that places like this matter—we’re asking you to help.

Donate if you can. Share this fundraiser if you can’t. Leave Lyle a message and remind him that the community he has worked so hard to create is still here.

Because this time, it’s our turn to show up at Lyle’s door.

Let’s help him rebuild Fifth Tier and fill it once again with plants, coffee, laughter, friends, family, love—and, of course, something amazing from the bakery case.