FareStart

FareStart is a non-profit, social entrepreneurial organization in Seattle, Washington, USA, that operates a unique job placement and training program benefiting homeless and disadvantaged men, women, and youth. FareStart was started as a regular soup kitchen, but its founders then realized that, if they trained their clients to help prepare the food, it would give them the job skills they would need to find employment and stable housing. FareStart reports that 80% of graduates find jobs upon graduation, and keep them for at least three months.

Local shelters, low-income daycare providers, and senior centers (many at least partially funded by the city of Seattle) have helped FareStart achieve economies of scale, as well as a predictable revenue stream in a typically unpredictable industry, by contracting with FareStart to provide institutional-scale meals for their clients.

As of January 2007, the main FareStart Restaurant and the FareStart administrative offices moved from its longtime location Downtown Seattle just east of the Pike Place Market, to its brand new home at Seventh & Virginia Avenues. The restaurant serves lunch Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m is the famous Guest Chef Night, which features a special three-course dinner, prepared by students under the supervision of a "guest chef"--a noted Seattle chef from another restaurant that volunteers his or her services to support the cause. Chefs have come from as far as the Rosario Resort on Orcas Island, but most are from some of the best known restaurants in Seattle and King County, including Ray's Boathouse, Sky City at the Space Needle, Salty's on Alki, Elliott's Oyster House, and the Metropolitan Grill.

The students that staff the restaurant are provided a comprehensive, 16-week training program that includes everything from safe and proper food storage and catering to kitchen vocabulary and kitchen math. Many other skills are also covered, including conflict management, life management, employment goal-setting, résumé writing, and job-interview skills.

FareStart Café serves as on-the-job training site for FareStart students enrolled in the Barista Training and Education Program, a collaborative effort between YouthCare and FareStart. All net profit generated by café goes directly toward our student training programs, as do all net profits from all FareStart businesses. Customers of the FareStart Café support the organization through their patronage, while also providing critical on-the-job experience for FareStart students. FareStart Café at 2100 opened on June 21st, 2004 inside the 2100 Building, located at 2100 24 th Ave. South (Rainier Valley). The Café serves both the public and the non-profit tenants of the building, including Treehouse, which provides enrichment and educational services to foster children, The Mockingbird Society, Youth In Focus, Washington Women's Foundation and Northwest Children's Fund.

In addition to the food preparation training, FareStart also provides job placement assistance, help finding housing if the student is not already staying at a homeless shelter, and continues working with the students after they start their new job to help them keep it.

FareStart also provides catering services, using the food it prepares.

External link

 * FareStart Web site

The FareStart Board and community recognize the value of helping other organizations replicate its job training model. The long standing goal of touching more lives by helping other organizations around the country to implement successful job training programs rooted in social enterprise has been achieved by a spin off of FareStart called Kitchens With Mission (KWM).

With full FareStart Board approval, and the backing of the entire FareStart organization, KWM has been working since early 2006 to “diffuse” the FareStart model nationally, directly assisting Partner Programs and establishing a network of programs that share information and resources. Kitchens with Mission leverages the knowledge, skills and experience of source organizations, such as FareStart, in order to act as a catalyst and serve a leading role in defining and diffusing the FareStart Model.

Having already been approached by more then 100 interested parties, Kitchens With Mission is now actively working with more than 25 Partner Programs across the country. Total projected annual outcomes of the KWM Network for 2010, based on programs that are currently operational and those expected to launch during 2008, project over 3.5 million nutritious meals served and over 2,000 individuals provided new opportunities through technical and life-skills training.

External link

 * KWM Web site