Catering To Homeless People -- Program Dishes Up Dreams, Seasoned With Job Training

Maureen Hall has a dream of becoming a cook on a cruise ship and seeing the world. Thanks to Common Meals, a program that trains homeless people for jobs in the food-service industry, she has taken the first step toward achieving that goal.

With some background in food preparation and a strong work ethic, she was a prime candidate for the program.

Enthusiastic students, a dedicated board of directors and a new business plan make Common Meals a model for similar programs throughout the country. But only a few months ago, the board seriously considered closing the job-training program.

Common Meals incorporated as a nonprofit organization to provide jobs for homeless men and women in 1992, after five years of selling meals to homeless shelters and Head Start programs. The original business was founded by David Lee, who wanted to feed needy people and had a background in culinary arts. The board decided to take the program one step further with job training. The idea was a good one, but the somewhat haphazard fund-raising and lack of long-term planning were problems.

So in April, the board reorganized, increasing its number to 10 from three. Members saw the need to develop a business plan and a stable fund-raising base to stay in business.

"We realized it was at a point of make it or break it," said board President Barbara Reed, a customer-relations manager at Starbucks Coffee Co. "We discussed seriously the option of closing,

but instead we dug in our heels and decided to make it a success."

With the help of corporate donors including Safeco, Starbucks, A La Francaise and Redhook Brewery, the board has set a new direction.

"All of us acknowledge that we're in business here, and in order to survive we need to be profitable," said Executive Director Cheryl Sesnon. "But as a nonprofit, you always have to balance what makes dollars sense and the goals of our mission statement and the compassion that is part of what we're all about."

Curriculum changes include better technical training and increased emphasis on work-retention skills, communication skills and nutrition.

In the large, clean, training kitchen of the Common Meals restaurant at 1902 Second Ave., students do everything from chopping and slicing vegetables to mopping floors. The restaurant serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Thursday. Belltown artists and downtown workers, as well as homeless people, are among its clients.

Students praise the "guest chef" program, which brings in some of the best chefs in the Northwest every Thursday to work with students in preparing elegant, multicourse meals.

The students and staff at Common Meals also prepare about 500 low-cost meals a day for homeless shelters and other programs that serve disadvantaged people. They also cater local business events.

Common Meals trains between 65 and 70 students a year. Since the program's inception in 1992, more than 100 students have graduated. Sixty-seven percent of last quarter's graduates were still employed three months after graduation from the 12-week course. They get jobs with food service employers and restaurants such as Dahlia Lounge, Schwartz Brothers, the Beeliner Diner and Boeing Corp. Graduates earn an average of $7.29 an hour. While they're in the program, some students receive stipends of $2 an hour.

Applicants are evaluated on their mental and physical health, drug and alcohol abuse (they have to be in recovery), and anger and violence problems.

"We look for somebody who has truly committed to making a change in their life," Sesnon said.

"There's this incredible level of integrity between all of the board members and staff and an appreciation of the bigger scope of a training program where students are learning how to treat people with honesty and respect," Reed said.

Their efforts seem to be paying off, as students praise these intangible skills as the most valuable part of the program.

"I've learned you have to be flexible, and if you want to get something out of anything you have to put yourself forward. Otherwise you're not going to get anything," said student Darlea Camacho, a mother of six who one day wants to own her own restaurant or catering business.

Hall said she has learned how to be patient and deal with diverse people. "It's a wonderful program," she said. "I would recommend it to other people trying to find their niche."

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