Empowerment, training and stability. In Philadelphia, more than 25 percent of people live at or below the poverty line, and the North Philadelphia neighborhood that is home to PCK is an area of particularly deep poverty; the average family of four in North Philadelphia lives on less than $25,000 a year. Community members who have experienced homelessness, trauma, unemployment or under-employment, or who are returning citizens face significant barriers to employment, including a lack of accessible job training programs. Job training, transitional support and livable-wage jobs are necessary to help break the cycle of poverty for PCK’s students. PCK not only provides employment opportunities, but also a second chance at life.

Since 2000, the Philabundance Community Kitchen has provided some of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable adults with a strong and stable path to workforce readiness and success. Students are accepted because they face significant barriers to employment, and throughout the course of the program, they receive one-on-one support to help them develop strong life skills and career readiness. Regular, scheduled contact for 24 months after graduation ensures that graduates have continued access to assistance. However, we must currently turn away qualified applicants each year due to lack of capacity. Insufficient equipment, space, and refrigeration restrain kitchen activity and limit the number of meals that can be prepared and the number of students who can be trained.

A Key to Community grant award will enable us to double the impact of these transformative job training and support services for PCK students, taking us from a minimum of 80 students each year to a maximum of 200 and providing more in-depth support while quadrupling the number of healthy meals our students and staff can make (from 280,000 per year to 2 million) for food-insecure children, people experiencing homelessness, and others in need of emergency food assistance. With your support, we will connect the communities surrounding PCK to this accessible and industry-recognized culinary training, build stable communities and empower our graduates to reach their financial goals and achieve long-term success for themselves and their families.