Community Culinary School of Charlotte

CCSC’s overarching program goal is to provide students with the training, tools and skills to move from dependency to self-sufficiency through stable employment, as we assist them in addressing their barriers. CCSC serves about 50-60 students during three 14-week sessions annually. We have 986 graduates as of December 2019.

CCSC's objectives that support our overarching goal are:
1. Students will graduate and take ServSafe Sanitation exam by end of the 14-week training program;
2. Students will be employed at graduation, earning $12.00/hour or higher;
3. Graduates will continue employment for at least 6 months to one year after graduation.

By teaching culinary, job-readiness, and business skills needed to sustain employment, we offer opportunities for students to transform their lives and the lives of their families. CCSC truly creates sustainable change. Recalling the proverb about teaching a man to fish, not only do we teach our students how to fish – we teach them how to "clean, cook and sell fish!”

CCSC conducts the following Activities to achieve its program objectives:
1. To Graduate and take ServSafe Sanitation exam, activities include:
A. Participate in required weekly RPS (Relapse Prevention Services or 'Ready-Plan-Succeed') activities
B. Participate in required culinary training
2. To be employed at graduation, earning $12.00/hour or higher, activities include:
A. Attend job-readiness classes (create resume, mock interviews), plus life-skills training specific to each student's needs (literacy tutoring, budget management, etc.)
B. Work Encore Catering events, pursue job referrals and internships
C. Volunteer for CCSC's community-service functions
3. To have continued employment and abstinence for 6 months to one year after graduation:
A. Continue counseling at CCSC, addressing foundational issues: Be on time, Be professional, Be polite, Sense of Urgency, “Mise en place" (a culinary term meaning 'everything in its place'), No drama, Homework
B. Continue recommended RPS treatment program to maintain abstinence
C. Stay in touch with CCSC through check-ins with staff counselors and instructors, attend Alumni gatherings

For more than 23 years, CCSC has fostered economic mobility by addressing the interwoven problems of unemployment, hunger and homelessness. We train adults for culinary careers, recognizing the root cause of hunger as unemployment. We provide career tracks to overcome such obstacles as lack of skills, incarceration, addiction, homelessness, and Veterans’ reintegration issues.

Our training offers real industry experience to adults looking to gain marketable skills, leading to jobs that pay living wages. Students complete our program with 320 hours of training, and sit for the National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe Sanitation exam to gain their Certifications. We help students prepare by enlisting a consultant, who provides a full day of training offsite, followed by administering the exam. Student scores continued to improve in 2019, with an average pass rate of 100%. This credential typically ensures that graduates earn a higher wage.

Students are trained in a rotation among three stations, creating a solid skill base in each. Baking and pastry arts includes food production while managing the bakery; Catering includes basic and advanced culinary techniques, planning and preparing orders, and assisting at events; Café training includes cooking, plating and customer service.

On-the-Job-Training is an integral aspect of our process. Encore Catering and our Café provide training and employment opportunities to students and alumni, while generating revenue for the School. In 2019, 52% of our revenue was earned through Encore Catering, our Café, and other internal programs. (The balance was contributed through grants, donations and proceeds from other fundraising activities.)

CCSC measures the number of students who: complete their 320 training hours; pass National Restaurant Association exam for ServSafe Certification; obtain jobs after graduating; remain employed six months plus; and alumni continuing with RPS counseling.

We have graduated 998 students as of June 2020. In 2019, 72% of students had graduated, 83% had secured jobs at graduation, and 80% were still working after 6 months.

CCSC currently trains and serves about 50 students and 120 CCSC alumni annually, providing them with training, job placement and referrals to other resources, including housing, low- or no-interest loans, medical and mental health services. But our impact extends beyond our training program to positively impact our students' families, the businesses they work for and create, and the communities in which they live and pay taxes when they join (or rejoin) the work force.

In addition, we have created permanent, measurable, life-changing impact within the Charlotte community. We provide culinary and life skills training to adults who face barriers to long-term, sustainable employment. Food alone will never end hunger. Jobs will. CCSC's program offers a path out of poverty through employment. Our training program is a creative solution to the interwoven problems of unemployment, hunger and homelessness in communities. We provide career paths in the food service industry for adults whose barriers include: lack of skills, incarceration, addiction (substance abuse), homelessness, and Veterans' re-integration issues.

Some of our graduates have been homeless or living in shelters and have gone on to live independently with good jobs. All come from fragile economic circumstances. By helping students obtain skills that translate into stable income, we simultaneously help them feed their families. This has an exponential effect that breaks the cycle of dependency and contributes to a healthy, sustainable community. CCSC fosters self-esteem and self-confidence in our students, who then become positive role models for their families and communities.

In addition to our culinary “hard skills” training - knife dexterity and advanced kitchen techniques - we also train and evaluate students in “soft skills”. Important factors we evaluate are: working well with others; coping with stress; having mental and physical stamina; and managing the hectic, fast-paced environment of the food service industry. Our Chef Instructors and RPS Counselor assess students’ skills as they progress through the program.

The Community Culinary School of Charlotte is dedicated to giving people who have suffered hardships a “hand up” by providing workforce development training. Our focus is to enable them to help themselves, as they in turn help their families and local communities.