When I just came in America, like about almost five years ago,
I didn't know exactly what, you know, I'm coming to do here.
When I found Emma’s Torch,
they help me find, you know, the dream.
Our menu here at Emma's Torch, it's about a conversation.
It's applying new flavor profiles, new spices
It's new American cuisine prepared by the newest Americans.
The idea behind Emma's Torch is that this whole industry can benefit
from welcoming in new people, new voices and new perspectives.
And so we provide culinary training and job placement services
to refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking.
In 2016, there was a photo of Alan Kurdi,
who was a three-year-old little boy
whose body was washed up on the shores of Greece.
Like so many other people who saw that photo,
it made me question, what am I doing?
What are we doing to make sure that no other small child has that experience?
And for me, that was really a moment of reckoning, of thinking about what
I could do in a small way to help change the experience for so many people.
I had this idea of what we could do within food and job placement
and culinary training for this community, and the rest is really history.
Our program is ten weeks long, and we try and cram as much as we can
into that ten weeks, and it's a full time job.
Our students are earning $15 an hour throughout the program.
The first five weeks we refer to as boot camp, and that time is
when our students are learning knife skills, math skills
and really getting used to what it means to be part of this industry.
And then for the second five weeks, they choose electives
where they get an opportunity to work at both our restaurant
and our cafe in the Brooklyn Public Library.
And that's where they get to see
where could they see themselves in their future in the industry.
And then at the end of the program, they graduate and we help them
find new jobs.
A typical day here at Emma’s Torch starts
with a lot of questions, such that everybody is included.
We get into the conversation of what we're learning about on any given day.
From there, then we'll get into a little bit more of the practical.
It's really important to see how does
what we're talking about actually relate to cooking.
And then after that, how does it relate to what I'm going to be doing in a job?
I learn how to, the skill kitchens,
the skill, techniques.
They treat us as a family,
and they work with us every time.
And they teach us a lot.
The students that go through the Emma’s Torch program,
they are almost to a person uniquely determined
and equally as amazing as anyone that has inspired
you in your life before.
We are immigrants or refugee.
It's very hard, especially if you
you know, if you don't find help here, like,
if you don’t find, like, you know, some people
like the team in Emma’s Torch.
I’m sorry.
They help me find, you know, the dream.
They help me like not only on my career and then in my life also.
When I say in my life, I'm talking in my family.
I'm talking about financially and yeah, in everything.
And then I have the confidence.
I know I'm here.
I know I'm going to be achieve everything I want in my life,
and I'm going to able to help others also.
Fundamentally, what we're about here is preparing students for the workforce
so that they can begin careers where they are going to be compensated.
And then they can have real financial independence
to make choices and to grow here.
And so a part of that is making sure that they have the opportunity to learn
and make mistakes, and to know what it is to work in this type of environment.
I think that's been the secret sauce for why
we have over 90 percent job placement.
We have had over 150 students go through our program,
and we have close to a 95 percent job placement success rate
for job seekers after graduation.
We also at this point are looking at
about 80 percent job retention rate after six months.
Within the culinary industry, standard is usually 25 percent, if that.
Our students are not just beginning jobs,
they're really growing into careers.
I see my future when I joined here.
Now I'm planning after this learning all the program,
I’m going to a very, like, fancy big restaurant or the hotel.
I want to show what I learn from here,
and I want to show how I am professional over there.