Woo! Oh, man. I like food because it's hot, it's quick. It's dangerous. At the beginning, it was rock bottom.
It was the place where I was, like, my refuge, where it's like I'm hurt and I need something and I need some help.
But then I saw the opportunity to do the cooking class.
Initially, when I met Emmanuel, I just saw a young kid that just came home from the military for the next chapter.
The mission of our program is to help people help themselves, to give them more tools to get jobs, to help them get back into independence.
When I first met Emmanuel, one of the biggest things was his smile.
He sort of was the guy who was willing to take risks.
Can I do the risotto? Could I do the polenta? Can I do this? And you could see how he started to blossom as the class went on.
The Workforce Initiative program here at Camillus House is very vital to helping our clients regain employability and employment.
We rely on different funding from grants.
TD Bank, who's one of our funding partners, they really help us offer the services that we provide on a daily basis.
We really appreciate them for that.
Camillus House was a Housing for Everyone recipient because in addition to addressing housing stability, they're really focused on the security that having stable income brings to individuals.
They're focused on moving everyone forward.
And I think that that's a really positive way of addressing the homeless situation.
I teach them that performance equals potential minus internal interferences or stress.
The more you're thinking negative thoughts, the less you're able to do your performance.
And I think that Emmanuel really recognizes that.
I was dealing with depression and all this stuff, anxiety.
And I kind of almost destroyed all that stuff, just believing in myself and believing the people that believe in me.
Because sometimes you can't see what you have inside, but other people can see it. It's like a snowball, you know? And then it gets to a point that you can't be sad.
So many people have tried to lift you up.
There's an opportunity to cook on, some place, like on a cruise ship in the Mississippi River or something like that.
That's what I want to do.