Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry provides 1,700 meals a day to homeless shelters, thanks to staff and culinary arts trainees who are looking to put a criminal past behind them.
Cooking up second chances I
Lutheran program trains those with criminal backgrounds By Cindy Kranz
t’s rare to fi nd a job that requires applicants to have a criminal record, but Lutheran Met- ropolitan Ministry’s (LMM) culinary arts training program is all about second chances.
T e fi ve-month program trains students and gives
them work experience in the agency’s Central Kitchen, which provides meals to several homeless shelters in the Cleveland area. Aſt er graduating, they look for perma- nent jobs in restaurants and food service. Students come from LMM programs, such as a
homeless shelter or re-entry eff orts, or they may be resi- dents of a shelter where the agency serves meals. T eir criminal records range from snatching purses on up to felonies. Applicants also are considered for their readi- ness. T ey get help with basic needs, such as math and literacy skills, to prepare them for the program. “If they have a criminal background, a willingness to
be in the program and they’re ready for it, they get in,” said Bryan Mauk, director of Social Enterprise, one of fi ve LMM branches. LMM, an ELCA-affi liated agency, serves and advo-
cates for people currently and previously involved in the criminal justice system, at-risk youth, people with
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www.thelutheran.org
disabilities, those dealing with long-term care needs and the homeless. T e culinary arts training program was piloted in
2012 and went full scale in February 2013. T at’s when LMM’s headquarters, the Richard Sering Center, was completed. It houses a 6,000-square-foot commercial kitchen that is used in culinary training and meal pro- duction. About 30 to 40 students are in the program at any given time. A new class starts monthly with six to 10 students. “T ey’re pretty raw when they come to us, not
knowing really much of anything,” said Matt Barnes, Central Kitchen’s executive chef. “Some people have never cooked in their life and some actually have some experience.” T eir attitudes vary as well, from thinking they know
a lot when they have no clue to being willing to learn, listen and fi gure out what they need to do to reach the level of the chefs on staff , Barnes said.
COURTESY OF LUTHERAN METROPOLITAN MINSITRY
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