FareStart Programs
FareStart's Adult Training Program works to build a strong foundation and support system for every student who passes through our doors. The intensive 16-week program combines hands-on food-service training with classroom instruction, individual case management and job placement services. The program prepares homeless and disadvantaged men and women for jobs in the restaurant and hospitality industry and, through our graduate support services, helps them to keep those jobs and move toward self-sufficiency by assisting them in securing living wage jobs and permanent housing. Support and services for our adult students last for approximately one year, and graduates are welcome to return for continued job retention and housing services indefinitely.
In the first phase of their training, FareStart’s adult students work in the contract meal program, producing more than 550,000 meals each year for area shelters and low-income day care centers throughout the community.
FareStart's Barista Training & Education Program was launched in 2003 and is a collaborative effort with YouthCare, providing at-risk youth, ages 16-23, with the opportunity to build a better future for themselves by increasing their ability to develop a supportive community, reconnect with family, and pursue educational or employment goals. This eight-week program provides job training and placement assistance, life skills classes, employment counseling, and both classroom and on-the-job training.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
FareStart was honored to receive the 2011 James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian Award. This prestigious, national award is given to “an individual or organization working in the realm of food that has given selflessly and worked tirelessly to better the lives of others and society at large.”
This amazing recognition reflects FareStart’s dramatic growth in size and influence in recent years, particularly with the launch of Catalyst Kitchens, a nationwide network of food-service social enterprise organizations. This network, now with 40 member programs, began by using FareStart as a model, and is enabling FareStart to exponentially leverage our impact on a national level.
As state-sponsored “safety nets” such as Disability Lifeline cash and medical benefits decrease and the number of people in poverty increases, FareStart is striving to increase the impact of our programs to help meet the community’s growing need for support. FareStart is in the process of increasing its capacity and its training opportunities to provide a full range of services the greater numbers of disadvantaged individuals who will enroll in 2013 and into the future.
Donations to FareStart this year will go directly to helping us expand capacity to serve more individuals who want the opportunity to change their lives. An investment in FareStart not only transforms lives, it and starts a ripple that creates a wave of positive social impact in our community.