Culinary Arts Program

The YWCA offers a Culinary Arts Program in its recently-renovated, commercial-grade kitchen. Training is offered at three levels - Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced - and ranges from entry-level food handling and sanitation to specialty cooking and food-service management.

The Culinary Arts Program:

• Prepares women for work in the food service industry, where jobs are consistently available
• Teaches nutrition and fosters more healthful habits
• Builds food-preparation skills that are a positive, nurturing and creative element of women's lives

Why "Culinary Arts"? Culinary Arts is an area in which to develop capacity and expertise for several reasons. Food preparation skills build on natural elements of women’s lives that are positive, nurturing, and creative. It is an opportunity to teach nutrition-related materials, thus fostering more healthful habits. More-over, there are jobs available consistently in the food service industry making it practical and results-oriented.

For the future, we envision an entrepreneurial culinary venture for low income women, possibly producing a line of specialty foods, or another small business that would enhance women’s economic self sufficiency and a sense of accomplishment. This vision is reflective of our mission: it empowers women and improves their chances for self-sufficiency.