Camillus House and Miami Dade College help Miami’s vulnerable find employment

Always wanting to help Miami’s homeless and most vulnerable rise out of life on the street and succeed, Camillus House and Miami Dade College came together in 2018 to form the Kitchen Cook Training Program at Camillus House.

“We were blessed that one of our board members Julie Grimes, is also Immediate Past Chair of the Miami Dade College Foundation and focuses much of her work on the college’s Hospitality Institute,” said Hilda Fernandez, CEO of Camillus House.

Julie Grimes approached Shelly Fano, Executive Director of the Miami Dade College Hospitality Institute about developing a culinary program at Camillus House, where they not only have classroom space but also a commercial kitchen that participants could use for hands-on work.

Laura Drosdowech, Hospitality Institute Manager said “the Hospitality Institute had met with Camillus House several times over a period of a few years to discuss ways to collaborate. Then, in late 2017, Mr. Rick Beasley, Executive Director of CareerSource South Florida offered to fund a culinary training program at Camillus House as part of his ‘homeless initiative.’”

Once CareerSource had offered funding in late 2017, the program came together rapidly. The first Kitchen Cook Training began in January of 2018, and by June 2018 three trainings had been completed.

Miami Dade College Hospitality Institute delivers training five days a week for seven weeks but due to the pandemic, they are currently teaching virtually four days with one day of hands-on culinary training at the Miami Culinary Institute on Wolfson Campus.

“We also integrate life skills and employability skills into the training as these are crucial to being successful in the training and in future employment,” said Drosdowech.

The model as it was launched was for students to spend the morning in the classroom and afternoon in kitchen.

“They learn to debone a chicken, make all the sauces, learn about the different cuts of beef and safe food handling which is very important,” said Hilda from Camillus House. And echoing Drosdowech she says, “they also learn life skills including mindfulness, communication and teamwork, and many other vital components to staying employed.”

Students are provided with a full chef’s uniform that they proudly wear while attending the seven-week program.

Recent Kitchen Cook Training Program graduate Erika Lawson at work in the kitchen. Photo by Liliana Mora, Miami Dade College

“There is nothing that makes my day more than to see them walking around the Camillus House campus with a look of pride on their face,” said Fernandez. “Working in a kitchen requires a lot of discipline which is great for these clients.”

Because the restaurant industry is such a competitive market there are endless employment opportunities. What the participants from Camillus House lack is the necessary experience. “Another one of the challenges they have is huge gaps in employment,” said Fernandez. “Through this program we want to put them in a position to be a candidate considered for a job. The certificate of completion and food safety certification they receive from Miami Dade College puts them in a better position to gain employment.”

So far, The Hospitality Institute has graduated seven classes averaging about 13 graduates per class totaling close to 90 graduates, and up until the pandemic they had over a 70 per cent placement rate.

“Since Covid-19 though, job placement has been challenging due to fewer restaurant jobs available,” said Fernandez.

Another recent challenge was program funding. The Kitchen Cook Training at Camillus House has historically been funded by CareerSource but with funding temporarily on hold due to the pandemic, the Southeast Overtown / Park West Community Redevelopment Agency stepped in to fund the Fall 2020 program.

The Fall 2020 graduation ceremony was held virtually in late October. The Hospitality Institute instructors and staff and Hilda from Camillus House were all beaming with pride during the commencement.

“It’s thrilling to hear the graduates speak about their experience during the ceremony,” said Hilda.

Ryan Walsh was one of those graduates.

He said “I’ve always had a passion for cooking and been in and out of the cooking industry my whole life. Recently I have decided to get my life together and this is a big step, it actually inspired me to do good.”

For Walsh, the seven weeks flew by and he loved working in the culinary labs at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus.

“Being hands on at Miami Culinary Institute was the highlight of every week, the facility was top of the line, it was an amazing experience,” he said.

Aside from gaining employment, Miami Dade College takes it one step further, offering graduates the opportunity to apply their certificate toward credits in pursuit of an Associate Degree.

“We assist any student who wishes to continue their education with admission into the academic degree programs,” said Shelly Fano, who is also the Chair of the Hospitality Management degree program at MDC.

Walsh is definitely interested in pursuing that opportunity saying, “I’m hoping to go out and put some applications in and also pursue a degree at Miami Dade College.”

Taking it a step further even, Hilda at Camillus House says they plan to utilize their on-site café as an internship program for the students.

“The idea would be to integrate the internship program before participants get a job. The bottom line is, we really want to activate the space for this,” Fernandez said. “And although the pieces are falling into place for this there is no target date yet, but we are working on it.”

For now, the partnership continues with both Hilda and Laura echoing the same sentiments:

“This has been a great partnership with Miami Dade College, they have been amazing,” said Fernandez.

“Miami Dade College is a strong supporter of The Hospitality Institute and the partnership with Camillus House,” said Shelly Fano.