Sidney McClendon, a student in culinary skills training at Café Hope in Marrero, shows the menu to LSU AgCenter family and consumers sciences agent Alexis Navarro of Jefferson Parish. At-risk students participate in the 16-week program where they learn all areas of restaurant operations. McClendon’s goal is to own a bakery. (Photo by Johnny Morgan)

LSU AgCenter family and consumers sciences agent Alexis Navarro of Jefferson Parish, teaches a lesson on nutrition to students enrolled in the culinary skills program at Café Hope in Marrero. The 16-week program prepares the students for careers in the culinary industry. (Photo by Johnny Morgan)

LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Sarah Bertrand, of Jefferson Parish, examines produce grown in the garden at Café Hope in Marrero. Students in the 16-week culinary skills program are preparing for careers in the industry. (Photo by Johnny Morgan)

Marrero, La. – At-risk young people in the greater New Orleans area are gaining life skills from the LSU AgCenter in addition to culinary training provided by Café Hope, a farm-to-table restaurant.

The program consists of 16 weeks of intensive training to prepare the young people for careers in the hospitality industry, according to Luis Arocha, executive director of Café Hope.

“The program is a full culinary training program that works with youth from ages 17-23,” he said. “The first four weeks, we concentrate on meeting their holistic needs. They don’t go into the dining room, and they don’t go into the kitchen.”

During this period the focus is totally on life skills, Arocha said. “This is when our partner, the LSU AgCenter, comes in with lessons on horticulture, financial literacy and health. The young people learn about spiritually as well as just learning about themselves and the industry before they set foot into the restaurant.”

“The first four weeks are what we call the ‘Seeds of Success,’” he said. “That’s when we try to focus on them as a person. The next six weeks the young people learn every job in the dining room, and the last six weeks of the program they work with three professional chefs in the kitchen.”

Arocha said the partnership with the LSU AgCenter is huge for Café Hope, because the information the young people learn does not stay just with them. They are actually taking it home.

“Some of the students are already parents, so they are also passing the information on to the next generation,” Arocha said.

“We are a seed to table restaurant, so we tell our donors we would stretch their dollar as far as we can. So we started a garden, and the AgCenter has been great working with us,” he said.

“While most restaurants operate on a 30 to 35 percent food cost, last month Café Hope was at 19 percent,” he said.

LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dan Gill has made a several visits to the restaurant to give horticultural tips, and Jefferson Parish AgCenter agents teach life skills classes to the students.

LSU AgCenter agent Alexis Navarro teaches two lessons on nutrition and financial literacy each week during the four-week life skills portion of the training.

“During the classes, there is some lecture, but there is also a lot of hands-on learning,” Navarro said. “They need to be aware of things like heart-healthy foods and the importance of a low-sodium diet. All of these things are important for the profession they are entering.”

AgCenter horticulture agent Sarah Bertrand also teaches a weekly class during the life skills portion of the training.

“I come every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and we have some lecture and activities in a classroom setting, then we go into the garden,” Bertrand said.

When Bertrand started working with the students, they had been using the produce from the garden but had never been there.

“So I’m showing them how a garden can help with their household food budget – why it’s healthier – and show them that it can be fun,” she said.

She teaches them to see the value in their food, such as how much it cost to buy a cucumber versus the price of growing one.

“I also teach them the importance of getting outside and working, and we look at the different types of soils and what is important about each,” Bertrand said. “We also talk about pests, diseases and other animals and how to manage them.”

Sidney McClendon, a 22-year-old from Marrero, said the program has helped her.

“I was somewhat of a troubled teen,” she said. “I dropped out of school when I was 18, and I tried other programs, but none of them were like Café Hope.”

McClendon is in her sixth week in the program and wants to join the John Besh’s Chefs on the Move program and eventually open her own bakery.

Arocha said 95 percent of these young people are from the westbank, and they are referred by their parents, churches or the legal side, such as probation officers.

“We began four and a half years ago as an affiliate of Catholic Charities,” he said “They were good enough to seed us and support us the first three years, and we became our own 501(c)(3)last July.”

“Right now 85 percent of the kids who enter the program successfully complete it,” Arocha said. “It’s sad, but some of them are just not ready to receive the message.”

“We like to think of Café Hope as more than a restaurant,” he said. “We’d rather think of it as just a community place for people to come.”

Café Hope operates on income from the restaurant and catering and fundraising. The restaurant is open to the public Tues. through Friday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and Friday night from 6 to 9 p.m.

Arocha said he tells his customers, when they come to Café Hope they not only feed their hunger, but they can feed their soul because every penny they spend is invested in the young people and back into the community.

Johnny Morgan