CINCINNATI — As young adults struggle to get back on their feet, Gov. Mike DeWine is helping to provide job skills they need to succeed through the help of one program.
Talibah Paxton, 20, has always enjoyed cooking. It’s a passion that was inspired by her mom.
“I kind of wanted to do cooking too and I thought it was very interesting,” said Paxton.
Paxton is participating in Bloc Ministry’s Teaching Kitchen program.
It’s an eight-week course where students learn culinary and job readiness skills to help them succeed.
“It’s been really, really fun,” she said. “You get to learn different types of skills and techniques.”
Stephanie Miller is the chef at the Teaching Kitchen.
She takes pride in helping the students hone their skills as future chefs.
“When we’re doing things like this, our assignment, they incorporate their ideas and it becomes a new product,” she said.
Bloc Ministries just recently received a $100,000 grant from DeWine to help support the Teaching Kitchen and other initiatives.
The grant is a part of the Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. It’s helping aspiring chefs like Paxton who have either dropped out of high school or career fields.
“I’ve learned sanitization, I’ve learned teamwork and I’ve learned how to be more patient,” she said.
As Paxton prepares to graduate from the program in the next couple of weeks she said she feels more confident in her cooking skills.
And while she’s not a professional chef just yet, she’s looking forward to the first steps to achieving that goal.
“Probably just getting a pastry job for now,” she said.
