Graduation Day at the Ottawa Mission's Food Services Training Program
It's graduation day for the Ottawa Mission's Food Services Training Program, as 12 students graduate.
The four-month, five-day-a-week job training program teaches students the skills necessary for working in a commercial kitchen.
"It's amazing. I feel blessed to be able to do this," Chef Ric Allen-Watson told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now.
Since its inception in 2004, 90 per cent of graduates from the Food Services Training Program have found employment in the food service industry.
"This one guy sticks in my head – he was living in a tent," Allen-Watson said Wednesday.
"He came to us, this is quite a few years ago, and he changed his life totally. Now he has his own apartment, he has a job, he's got a life and he's happy."
Of the 12 students graduating today, 11 have secured positions in the industry, according to the Ottawa Mission.
The new graduates include Panah, who is originally from Iran and came to Canada in 2022 after living in Turkey and working as a translator for refugee support.
Allen-Watson says another graduate is Tetiana, who fled Ukraine last spring after her city of Mariupol was destroyed. Allen-Watson tells 580 CFRA he spoke with Tetiana at the start of the program.
"She said yes, 'I've lost my home, I've lost my city and I've lost my country', and it was just heartbreaking to hear that," Allen-Watson said.
"The Ottawa Mission has helped her get an apartment, start a new life in this training program. She has a job and her and her husband are both working now, so it's amazing to see the change in how they come to us with nothing and then they leave and they're just a whole different person."
Allen-Watson says after Tetiana was accepted into the Food Services Training Program, her husband was offered a job at the Mission's kitchen, and they found an apartment close to the shelter.
"It's an amazing opportunity to start a new life in Canada. It means a lot to me," Tetiana said in a statement released by the Ottawa Mission.
"It’s so hard to organize a new life. If not for the help of The Mission, we couldn’t do anything. We were like little birds who had fallen out of our nest. Without The Mission and our host, it would have been impossible."
More than 230 people have graduated from the Ottawa Mission's Food Services Training Program since its launch in 2004.
Allen-Watson says there were 91 applicants for the 25 spots in the January program.
"So that just tells you the need out there for people that really want to change their life and really need our help," Allen-Watson said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
BREAKING Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, claims he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers for Jeremy Skibicki have told the court the accused unlawfully caused the death of four women, but argue he is not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.
WATCH Avian flu: Risk to humans grows as outbreaks spread, warns expert
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Italy's white-collar mafia is making a business killing
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Trump fined US$1,000 for gag order violation in hush money case as judge warns of possible jail time
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial fined him US$1,000 on Monday for violating his gag order once again and sternly warned the former president that additional violations could result in jail time.
Summer forecast: What to expect as El Nino weakens
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Holocaust researchers use AI to search for unnamed victims
Researchers in Israel are turning to artificial intelligence to comb through piles of records to try to identify hundreds of thousands of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust whose names are missing from official memorials.
Russia warns Britain and plans nuclear drills over the West's possible deepening role in Ukraine
Russia plans to hold drills simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons, the Defense Ministry announced Monday, days after the Kremlin reacted angrily to comments by senior Western officials about the war in Ukraine and Moscow warned that tensions with the West are deepening.