A launchpad for hope and a path to independence.
When you feed someone, you are nourishing them, meeting their physical needs and quieting the groans of an empty belly. You are opening the door to a relationship and offering the chance to start over.
That’s why the meals served at Everett Gospel Mission are so important. They are much more than food. They are the beginning of HOPE.
Meals bring people to our doors, but we can’t stop there. People have to be given the tools they need to overcome the obstacles of poverty and homelessness, so they can rebuild their lives.
That’s why we are thrilled about our brand new culinary arts training program, Feed Hope Kitchen.
Feed Hope Kitchen is a rigorous, 14-week, hands-on training and job-placement program designed specifically to give Mission residents the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to work in a restaurant, catering company or other food-related business.
It’s like someone handing you a ticket to a whole new life.
“People move up from the bottom in this industry,” says Nathan, the Feed Hope Kitchen Program Manager. “Almost everyone has washed dishes or chopped vegetables for someone else. To be successful you need a good foundation and basic skills.”
Now, any resident at the Mission can gain those skills and start a new career — all through the support of caring people like you.
“This is an opportunity to give homeless people work that they can be proud of,” says Nathan. We are thrilled to have Nathan, who has a background in the culinary industry as well as teaching, heading up this program. “There’s that old saying about teaching a man to fish. I think you need to teach them to cook that fish,” he says.
Brian*: “The meals here saved my life.”
One of our very first culinary students, Brian, was a bus driver for years until he started having severe migraine headaches. Unable to work, he lost his home. He was forced out on the streets. Trying to get well, Brian quit smoking and adopted a healthy lifestyle. His headaches stopped, but he was still homeless.
One day, he came to get hygiene items and other necessities through the HEN (Housing and Essential Needs) program. After Brian picked up his supplies, he was encouraged to find out more about the Mission. He came inside, was greeted with a hot cup of coffee, and sat down with one of our staff members.
“My social anxiety prevents me from asking people for things, so it was really hard,” he remembers. But after he asked for help, and got a bed at the Mission, he was amazed. “I wondered why it took me so long to come here.”
When he heard about Feed Hope Kitchen’s first class, he jumped at the chance to participate.
“To me, it is more than just a program. It is the light on the horizon, the mark of hope,” Brian says. “I can see myself getting a job and doing something productive.”
Brian’s transformation all started because YOU helped meet his basic needs. That’s why food is central to so much of what we do here — it transforms lives.
