Fresh Starts Graduates Cooking Up New Careers

Trainees from Fresh Starts Culinary Academy celebrated their graduation this week with many already working in local restaurants, markets and catering companies.

The four-month class, based at Homeward Bound’s Next Key Center in Novato, teaches food preparation and service skills in a partnership with the Marin County Office of Education’s Regional Occupation Program.

Students already have found work with such local businesses as El Paseo House of Chops in Mill Valley, Muscio’s in Novato, Sonoma Mission Inn, and Whole Foods Market.

Joined by family and friends, students applauded each other as they received their certificates of completion for the program. Most also have earned the ServSafe food hander’s certificate or the Serv-Safe food manager’s certificate as part of the course; both are government-approved certifications in food hygiene.

Open to students from the community as well as homeless residents at Homeward Bound, the program began in 2000 when New Beginnings Center opened its doors. Now in its second decade, the culinary training operates in a 3,000-square-foot commercial kitchen.

Most graduates have been enrolled since August 2012, choosing to stay for two consecutive sessions of the course in order to deepen their training and continue in various internships.

Homeward Bound offers internships in its institutional kitchen for shelter residents at New Beginnings Center, in the Jackson Café operated by Homeward Bound at the Whistlestop headquarters in San Rafael, and in the catering team that serves events in The Key Room, an on-site event venue at the Next Key Center.