Community Culinary School of Charlotte
Teaching Skills and Changing Lives since 1997
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Community Culinary School of Charlotte (CCSC) is a nonprofit organization that provides workforce development training and job placement assistance in the food service industry for adults who face barriers (history of incarceration, addiction, or lack of skills) to long-term successful employment. Our program provides systemic solutions to achieve social and economic objectives - breaking the inter-generational cycle of hunger and poverty while increasing upward mobility for disadvantaged individuals. CCSC addresses the root cause of cyclical poverty – unemployment.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Workforce Development Program
CCSC offers 14-week training sessions three times a year to students from the Charlotte region and does not charge tuition. Our program is made possible by donations, grants, and community support. Our "student-centered" training helps students and alumni to experience immediate results, and to envision themselves as skilled and successful. As their skills grow and improve, they become empowered and confident and committed to achieving success and changing their lives. CCSC's program focuses on our students' potential rather than their past.
Where we work
Awards
Neighborhood Builders' Award 2023
Bank of America Foundation
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Workforce Development Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Workforce Development Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of clients who complete job skills training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Workforce Development Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Workforce Development Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
CCSCs 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 1,122 graduates as of December 2023.
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; 100% of the students who take the exam pass.
2. Students will be employed at graduation, earning $16.00/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!
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
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 $16.00/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
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
For more than 27 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 Associations 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 2023, 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; Caf training includes cooking, plating and customer service.
On-the-Job-Training is an integral aspect of our process. Encore Catering and our Cafe provide training and employment opportunities to students and alumni, while generating revenue for the School. In 2023, 22% of our revenue was earned through Encore Catering, our Cafe, 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 1,122 students as of December 2023. In 2023, 81% of students had graduated, 68% had secured jobs at graduation, and 80% were still working after 6 months.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
CCSC currently trains and serves about 70 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.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Community Culinary School of Charlotte
Board of directorsas of 05/14/2024
Paul Burley
SVP Wells Fargo, Alumni Relations
Term: 2026 - 2024
Steven Boyd
Retried Coca Cola
Richard Brizzi
Regions Bank
Suzanne Bumgarner
Relocation Consultant
Paul Burley Jr.
Wells Fargo
Robbie Howell
Leadership Consultant
Chef Alexandra Wright
A. H. Wright Baking Co.
Jacki Cole
Community Volunteer
Daniel Mangual
Attorney
Chip Wallach
BofA Securities
Vivek Shah
2ULaundry
Wayne Sisk
Target Marketing, Inc.
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/14/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.