Second Helpings
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TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH CULINARY JOB TRAINING PROGRAM (Winter 2023). For 25 years, Second Helpings in downtown Indianapolis has offered a Culinary Job Training program as part of its mission to transform lives through the power of food. This free, 7-week program is available to unemployed and underemployed adults in central Indiana. Each step in the program’s curriculum is designed to secure employment upon graduation. More than 975 students have graduated from this program since 1998.
Second Helpings’ program is taught by Chef Instructors, and it incorporates industry connections throughout the curriculum. Students visit a variety of local businesses to explore a variety of kitchen settings and complete job shadowing exercises and internships as they move towards employment. Each Culinary Job Training graduate is also eligible for five credit hours from the culinary program at Ivy Tech Community College.
Students develop a variety of standard culinary skills, including earning multiple professional certifications, but they also strengthen a variety of durable skills that will help them succeed beyond the kitchen, such as time management, financial literacy, team building, job interviewing and resume writing. To reduce potential barriers, Second Helpings provides each student with uniforms, transportation, textbooks, technology and other assistance in order to concentrate on training with fewer distractions.
Not only does Second Helpings’ Culinary Job Training program help develop a qualified workforce for the foodservice industry in Indianapolis and beyond, it also helps eliminate hunger and poverty at its source by providing unemployed and underemployed adults the training and experience they need to secure a stable job to support themselves and their families. Second Helpings offers continued support to graduates of this program, from job search and interview guidance, food and transportation assistance as needed and continuing education opportunities to refresh or expand their skills and take their careers to the next level.
In the image, a Culinary Job Training student practices making pasta in Second Helpings' training kitchen.
Clowes Fund Field(s) of Interest: Workforce (Youth) Development
