FareStart

It's more than just job training

Seattleites have come to know about FareStart which offers comprehensive culinary training to homeless men and women. On average, more than 80 percent of graduates are employed within ninety days of graduating from the program. The program has amazing support from the restaurant community as well as the general population. Training is important, but FareStart does much more that often flies under the radar.

The publicly visible part of culinary training takes place at the FareStart restaurant in downtown Seattle. Students practice their craft, whether that's cooking, hosting, bussing or waiting tables. Menu items are remarkably good and range from soups and salads to sandwiches, vegetarian items, pastas and ribs. It's a very professional kitchen.

Photo: chef Drew with a trainee, courtesy of FareStart

FareStart also runs the Library Café at the downtown Central Library. The Café serves espresso and tea, cookies, sandwiches, chips, pastries and other snacks. In addition, there's the FareStart Café at 2100 inside the 2100 Building in the Rainier Valley. It's a full café with hot soups, lunch to order and coffee drinks.

Catering takes place at both the FareStart Restaurant and Café at 2100. The catering arm of FareStart is fairly new and growing. They will cater at any location—home, office, the FareStart dining room—and offer multi-course dinners, cocktail parties and sandwich platters. They take care of all the details of a catered event, not just the food.

All locations are training sites for those enrolled in the FareStart training program. Besides providing training through these venues, FareStart also helps other nonprofit programs (low income childcare, Head Start, homeless shelters, senior centers) by providing meals at greatly-reduced prices. Since 1987, FareStart has provided over two million meals to the community.

When someone enrolls in the FareStart program, they receive more than job training. As special events manager Suzanne Sullivan explains, "People who have been homeless often have other obstacles to success that they need to address beyond lack of marketable skills. We work with partner agencies to get our students what they need to build a healthy self—it may have to do with substance abuse, mental health, physical health, a place to sleep, continued education, resume building, interview training—whatever they need. Ours is a 16-week program that guides people back into the community."

FareStart is unusual in that as a nonprofit, only 60 percent of their annual budget comes from individual donations and grants. The other 40 percent comes from the revenue generated from their businesses. They are the beneficiaries of several annual events around town (like Taste of the Nation) and also produce two of their own—Guest Chef on the Waterfront in the summer and A Night on the Town auction in fall. The proceeds from both of these events go directly into the general operating fund to sustain the program.

A Night on the Town is a sit-down dinner and auction and has been a staple in charity dinner events for the past 14 years. Guest Chef on the Waterfront is a new event, having started in 2005, and is a summer party with games, live jazz and lots of food and wine. When over 900 people showed up last year, they knew they had a hit on their hands. This year, they've doubled the number of chefs and the Rhone Rangers will be on hand to sponsor wine tasting and a chance to win a collection of wine.

Guest Chef on the Waterfront is loosely based on their weekly Guest Chef Nights at the FareStart dining room. Each Thursday, a local chef volunteers his/her time to partner with the students to create a three-course gourmet meal for 200 people. Thursday nights almost always sell out. They're a bargain at just $19.95 and the food is great. All proceeds from the evenings go to student services and training.

Photo: Chef Josh Green at Guest Chef on the Waterfront 2005, courtesy of FareStart

As you can imagine, a program like this relies on chef/restaurant participation—chef time, food donations, event participation and the willingness to hire program graduates. "The Seattle restaurant community is extremely generous," says Suzanne. "They are truly partners in this program. It's amazing how supportive they are."

Both Chef Dan Thiessen, soon to open his own restaurant in Bellevue this fall called the 0/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar, and Chef Josh Green of Ponti Seafood Grill in Seattle have been very involved with FareStart. As Josh says, "I support FareStart because I know their program creates life-changing opportunities for people. I'm honored to have the chance to share my passion for cooking with the students when we work hands-on at the Guest Chef Nights. I volunteer for at least two nights a year and every time has been an uplifting experience." Chef Dan obviously feels the same way. "I've been involved with FareStart for over 8 years. I still remember the goose bumps I had the first time I walked into the kitchen with 12 anxious students ready to learn anything possible in the next couple of hours. Since then, I've been involved in many aspects of their program and events and have employed four different graduates over the years. I look forward to continuing that with my own restaurant."

Another sign of the popular support FareStart has in the community is their recent capital campaign to raise funds to move to an expanded location. "We wanted a new home because there's a community need for FareStart and job training for the homeless population. With this new location," explains Suzanne, "we'll be able to double the number of students we help annually to close to 600. We've been under-equipped and over-capacity in the past and have had to turn people away."

The capital campaign had an eight million dollar goal. Co-chairs Bill Adamucci and Chris and Alice Canlis, along with the FareStart Board of Directors and other volunteers, made it happen. They have actually met their goal and FareStart is slated to move into new digs in January 2007. The Canlis family chose to celebrate their 55^th anniversary in business with a fundraising dinner for FareStart that raised $125,000.

The capital campaign got FareStart into a new location, but the next challenge is to fund a program that has doubled in size. Increased space will allow more people at Guest Chef Nights, lunch and increased volume in catering. Continued support at Guest Chef Nights and annual events is critical as are general donations.

"Staff at FareStart get to actually witness the progress of those in the program," says Suzanne proudly. "It's so amazing to see someone at the start with little or no self-confidence and then see them at 16 weeks, polished and able to find work. One woman was a homeless mom of two. Can you imagine what she had to deal with just go get through each day with two kids and she still managed to get to the program every single day so she could create a better life."

Connie Adams/July 2006