The Teaching Kitchen is designed as a commercial cooking facility for serving meals to residents and community members, as well as a teaching facility, where education, engagement and community-building around food are primary objectives. It will support an interactive, hands-on program for learning about healthy eating and cooking fundamentals, and fostering team-building. Along with a 500-sf. dining area, the kitchen includes ample storage space for equipment and wet/dry materials.

Many formerly incarcerated individuals lack certain basic life skills for living on the outside, such as cooking, doing laundry, using a computer, and maintaining personal finances. While they are incarcerated, the prison provides their food and clothing, and often they reenter the community without these skills to provide for themselves. Drawing on the real-life experiences of those who have successfully traversed the reintegration process, we plan to incorporate life-preparedness skills.

Read more about the kitchen’s space needs.