Stories Of Impact And Hope Inside

Recently, we sat down with Allie Demers, Chef Instructor in our RISE Culinary program, and RISE Culinary student Ayana to hear more about the program in action, which started its pilot run this year.

An addition to RISE Logistics, which focuses on warehouse and general industry skills, RISE Culinary teaches essential commercial kitchen skills and nutrition education, and provides helpful food safety certifications like ServSafe and American Culinary Federation Certified Fundamentals.

“It’s a twelve-week program and a two-week internship,” Allie explains. The program takes place in a commercial training kitchen, while the internship happens with an employment partner. This helps students to network, earn positive references and receive employment offers.

The curriculum includes important basics like knife skills, meat cutting and making soups and sauces. Guest speakers from local restaurants and bakeries, like Cake Crazy, share their knowledge as well. For Ayana, the program was a perfect fit. “I love cooking,” she says, explaining why the program appealed to her. “I wanted to get more experience. I was thinking I might start my own catering [business].”

Allie, who led the pilot cohort, says that “day one, [Ayana] was a little scared to hold a knife…now her knife skills [are] amazing.”

On a practical level, Allie says, the program is helpful because students leave with a higher degree of food knowledge, helping to save money at the grocery store and cut down on food waste.


In photo: Ayana is excited to put her new culinary skills to work

Ayana experienced this benefit firsthand. She uses many of the skills she learned to cook healthy meals for her 3-year-old daughter. It all starts at the grocery store, where she now feels more confident making healthy, budget-friendly choices to build wholesome meals.

Ayana was one of six students in the pilot cohort. The first class was smaller, but Allie is excited to welcome the next full cohort of 12. “We’ll see what happens!” she says, excitedly imagining the learning — and the fun — that will happen in the kitchen in the coming weeks.

We are so excited about this new branch of our RISE program, which opens up so many doors to our neighbors who are looking for an avenue out of financial insecurity and into self-sufficiency, gainful employment, and a stronger future. Specialized training is a key piece of this mission.