A local restaurateur is launching a new culinary training program for ex-convicts. Street Chefs owner and ReFire Training founder Rebecca Kelly-Manders wants to help felons who have served their time step into the culinary sector—filling what she says is a talent gap in the Tallahassee restaurant industry.
“We’re looking at the $10-$12 range, and it’s not much, but it’s better than $8.05 an hour," she says.
"And the potential beyond that is limitless. Once they get the skill set, they’ll retain that for the rest of their lives, and as long as they want to work in the industry they will have the ability and the potential to advance.”
To help get the program off the ground Kelly-Manders is hosting a fundraiser Wednesday night at Mission San Luis. Tickets are $50 and it includes a plated meal, complementary beer and wine and music by the New 76-ers band. ReFire has already raised $10,000 toward its $30,000 goal. The money will cover the cost of job training for participants.
Check out the full interview with Kelly-Manders here.