Culinary Skills Training Program
Do you love to cook? Why not prepare a job in food preparation and cooking with our 16-week career starter program? Interested folks should come to our Interest Meeting on February 2nd at 10 am or 2 pm at Progress Place Dining Room (8106 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910)
Shepherd’s Table has stood on the frontlines for forty years, meeting the needs of community members experiencing food insecurity, homelessness, and poverty. In 2023, we observed a 32% increase in daily meals served from last year. Many of our meal guests and clients need different kinds of access to educational opportunities for stable employment with livable wages. We have been connecting our clients with employers in our area for years but know that learning critical life skills is the key to creating and walking a path to self-sufficiency.
Through the launch of the Culinary Skills Training Program, Shepherd’s Table will provide community members facing multiple barriers, such as low wages, a lack of real-life skills, or a lack of opportunities, with a path to pursue a career in the food service industry. They will train for a new career while helping hungry Marylanders in need!
What do Culinary Skills Training Program Participants get?
- 12 weeks of professional training – Students learn basic cooking techniques, life skills, discipline in the workplace, and professionalism
- ServSafe certification – This certificate confirms to prospective employers that graduates are experts in food safety
- Internship Placement – The program will work to find a four-week internship for the program participants that hopefully will lead to employment opportunities
- A chef’s starter kit – Each student receives a set of chef’s whites and a professional-grade knife kit to launch into a new career.
Eligibility & Application
Please download the application, fill it out, and send it to our Program Coordinator, Arvid Muller, via email at [email protected].
- Be at least 18 years old
- Legally eligible for employment
- Be currently unemployed or underemployed
- February 2nd – Interest Meeting between meals in PROGRESS PLACE Dining Room
- February 9th – Culinary Skills Training Program Applications are due
- February 12-14th – Interview of semi-finalists
- February 16th – Decision Day, notify session one participants
- February 22/23rd – Culinary Skills Onboarding (4 hrs.) – tour, expectations, receive all program supplies and uniforms.
- March 4th – First Day of Session 1
- May 24th – Session 1 Showcase Dinner
- May 27th – Externship begins
- June 22nd – Graduation
- Stable housing
- Be able to read, speak, and comprehend English
- Be able to stand for 8 hours a day
- Able to lift and move 50 pounds
- No outstanding warrants
- Be able to work 40 hours a week between the hours of 6 AM and 8 PM Monday through Sunday
Program Features
- Curriculum: Kitchen Safety, equipment knowledge, self-empowerment, getting to know you
- Curriculum: Cold prep, salads, sandwiches, self-care
- Curriculum: Veggies, classifications, how they grow, household skills
- Curriculum: Mother sauces, eggs, stocks, time management
- Curriculum: Poultry fabrication, cooking, communications (oral, computer)
- Curriculum: Seafood, fish fabrication, coping skills
- Curriculum: Beef, financial literacy
- Curriculum: bread, customer service skills
- Curriculum: Bread, pastries, interpersonal skills
- Curriculum: International/regional cooking, life management, decision making
- Curriculum: Review, job readiness
- Curriculum: Final practical, job readiness
- SHOWCASE Dinner
Program Location
Progress Place
8106 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Contact Us
Christina Moore, Director of Meal Services, [email protected], 301-585-6463 x 216
Jerome Chambers, Director of Social Services, [email protected], 301-585-6463 x 218