LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Catholic Charities of Louisville is hosting a free culinary training program to help people start a career in culinary arts.
Common Table is a eight-week program that teaches the skills someone would learn in the first semester of culinary school. The students also take the Louisville Metro Food Manager's Exam.
Laura Stevens, who created the program in 2015, said it's been rewarding to see how the program has developed its own network of connections for after the students graduate.
"There's mentorship on your career and what steps you might want to take, not just after you leave our program but several steps down the road," Stevens said.
As of August, the certification is also transferable for eight credit hours at Jefferson Community and Technical College.
Chef Makeda Freeman-Woods, who teaches the program, said she interviews each student at the beginning to see where their interests are and what they want to know to develop a cultivated lesson plan around the students.
"Common Table is life-changing," Freeman-Woods said. "It's very impactful. Sometimes, it blows me away. I get phone calls and people tell me, 'Hey, you changed the trajectory of my life.'"
Alex Frazier is one of those success stories. He said he's always loved cooking but only dreamed of doing it full-time until Common Table.
"This is really like changing my life," he said. "Like this program helped me so much."
After he completed the course, the program was able to connect him with Jewish Family and Career Services for one-on-one business counseling. He's in the process of developing his own private chef business and has his first event on the books for the end of October.
"I really liked putting a smile on people's face," Frazier said. "I like seeing people happy. Food is like one of the best things to do that with.".
It's this passion that Freeman-Woods loves to see in her students.
"It's joy," she said. "It's a connector. It brings us all together. Food is so many things."
Fraizer said he's self-motivated to be successful, but a greater motivation is becoming a role model for his son, who is on the way.
"I just want to set a foundation for him like, just make sure that like he has like a good support system, he has a role model to look up to," he said. "Because I didn't have that as a kid. So just being able to be there for my son, it's like the best thing in the world."
To be considered for Common Table, you have to RSVP and attend an information session. The next one is 10:30 a.m. Thursday, and you can find more information about signing up here.
If you want to support Frazier's new business, you can contact him at AlexFrazier_11@yahoo.com
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