On September 17, 2026, we finished up a brand new 8-week program: the Real Life Kitchen program!

     Our CEO, Michelle Reefer, and our kitchen staff, Tina and Brittany, were able to put into action a new program idea with great success.

     Our kitchen at our main Oak Avenue location has always been a valuable part of PWAC programming. Not only do our kitchen staff provide meals three times per week to the whole building, but they also focus on providing essential kitchen skills training to individuals interested in working for restaurants in commercial kitchens out in the community.

     This year, however, we identified a gap in our kitchen programming. While teaching essential work skills is foundational to our mission, we realized that many of our individuals don't even have the knowledge to prepare their own simple meals, even when they have the capability and the equipment at home to do so. To address this need, we began the Real Life Kitchen program, which invited six individuals to come to "cooking class" once a week to learn skills they can put to use in their own lives: trying different foods, learning how to work a microwave and an air fryer, practicing using knives and other kitchen utensils, and even going grocery shopping at local stores to learn about the cost of groceries and how to make simple meals from just a few food items.

     During the final session of this 8-week program on September 17, the class got together to put their new skills to the test by making a full meal for PWAC's admin staff. The meal included appetizers (buffalo chicken dip and sausage dip), a main course (breakfast sandwiches), and a dessert (chocolate "dirt" cups). Everyone loved the meal! All six individuals received certificates for completing the course and shared what they enjoyed most during the class.

     "I liked learning how to use the air fryer," said Blaine. "And my favorite part of the class was our teamwork and the way we all worked together."

     "My favorite thing we learned to make was the mug cakes," said Heaven.

     "My favorite class was when we went to Dollar General and learned how to budget money to buy ingredients," said Kenny.

     Tabitha said her favorite part of the class was taste testing 20+ different foods, many of which she'd never tried before. "My favorite new thing I tried was hummus," she said.

     Mark said he enjoyed learning to use different kitchen gadgets, and he really liked making the sausage dip for the final class meal because it was his mother's recipe. Erin said her favorite part of the class was learning how to cook an egg in the microwave and making breakfast sandwiches for everyone.

     Finally, to celebrate their "graduation," PWAC kitchen staff Tina made a delicious graduation cake that everyone got to enjoy!

     We hope to continue offering this class to interested individuals for many years to come. Having the ability to determine your personal food interests and having the basic skills and tools needed to making your own meals is so vital to our everyday lives, and we are so glad this new Real Life Kitchen program has opened a door for so many of the people we serve to learn the skills to take on that independence for themselves.

     Great work, everyone! And a special thank-you to the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation for supporting this new program idea and providing us with a grant to help get it started. We look forward to many more Real Life Kitchen classes to come!