After graduating from Knox College in Illinois, Naja Woods started her journalism career in 2019 as a producer at ABC57 News in South Bend.
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indy organization uses food that might have been thrown away, to provide nutritional meals for thousands in need. It’s also helping Hoosiers take the next steps in their careers.“It’s real important because like I mean I want to be a chef,” said Kimberly Williams, who graduated from the Culinary Job Training Program Friday.
After decades in the culinary industry, she said she finally has the training needed to move up in her career.“I learned different life skills as a chef, to work with different people. There is so many opportunities so many resources,” said Williams. “I’ve been trying to get into Second Helpings for years it was just like the timing was never right.”The 40-year-old mother was a part of the Second Helpings 166 graduating class from the non-profit’s culinary job training program.“The seven-week training program is open to anybody. Most of our folks are second-chance citizens,” said Chef Kyle Burnett the Culinary Job Training Program Manager. “Maybe they didn’t have the funds to go to college necessarily so we’re a good bridge for that gap.In the Hoosier state, the gap still exists even in higher-level jobs.Despite Indiana seeing a relatively low unemployment rate of 4.4% since January, a local economist told WRTV there’s still a shortage in the labor market.“We are we have a lack of skilled labor that is fit for the needs of the 21st century, and we have an oversupply of unskilled labor,” explained Professor Andreas Hauskrecht, who teaches business economics at the IU Kelley School of Business.Second Helpings has been trying to address the problem for decades, with job training and a push to continue education.“The culinary job training class, the fact that it’s free. It goes toward credit hours if they like to go on at Ivy Tech if they’d like to go on so it’s a great way to get a start in this industry,” added Nora Spitznogle the Chief Program Officer for Second Helpings.More than 1,000 Hoosiers have graduated from the program since it started decades ago.The culinary program is free and lasts seven weeks.After graduates find employment, they can also receive as much as $500 dollars in a stipend from the non-profit.To learn more about the program or to volunteer with Second Helpings you can click here.
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