Common Table Offers Uncommon Help

Thanks to a new kitchen and collaboration with Dare to Care Food Bank, Common Table is bringing job training and opportunities to those who face extraordinary challenges to employment.

“We work to reduce poverty in our community by providing training in the culinary arts to those who face barriers to employment, empowering them to achieve success in their careers and personal lives,” says Laura Stevens, director of Common Table, a culinary program of Louisville’s Catholic Charities. Participants must be age 16 or older. Last year they came from a variety of backgrounds: 60% were housing insecure, 20% were exposed to domestic violence and 17% were exposed to the court system.

In June 2020, the program moved from the basement kitchen at Catholic Charities’ St. Anthony’s campus at 22nd and West Market streets to the state-of-the-art Dare to Care Community Kitchen located in the Parkland neighborhood in Louisville’s West End.

During the eight-week program, students learn the basics of working in the food service industry — food safety and sanitation, prep techniques and cooking techniques — through experiential learning in the kitchen. Their work helps Dare to Care prepare meals and prepare catered box lunches and a soup and bread subscription service Common Tables sells to the public.

All revenue generated through catering supports the training program.

Braddis Sandridge and Curtis Lavendar earn their Culinary Arts Training Program certificates. 

They also prepare meals for others in need in the community. Last year, according to Stevens, Common Table served 8,231 community meals to places like La Casita Center, and through different Catholic Charities initiatives.

The program prepares students for their Food Service Manager’s Exam (Common Table covers the cost), a certification that is good for three years. Graduates also receive eight credit hours towards an associate degree in culinary arts at Jefferson Community and Technical College.

To date, over 100 students have graduated from Common Table. With an 81% job placement rate, graduates have been hired by businesses like the Omni Louisville Hotel, Louisville Collegiate School, Eddie Merlot’s Prime Aged Beef & Seafood, Masterson’s Catering and Aramark.

October 4 is the next deadline for the Soup, Bread and Salad Subscription. Each week, subscribers receive one quart of soup or a half-quart of salad, and a loaf of bread made by Wildflour Bakery. Pickup is available at Common Table or multiple locations around Louisville.

• All revenue generated through soup subscription and catering sales supports the training program. Learn more at cclou.org/soup/
• Catholic Charities also manages Common Earth Gardens, a collaboration to build healthy community networks within the diverse and multicultural community of Kentucky to increase land access to grow food, develop new farm businesses. Learn more at cclou. org/common-earth-gardens/