Chef Jamie Hall, Food Service Coordinator for the Dismas Charities Portland facility, was interviewed on WCHQ-FM radio about his past work as a chef, the kitchen skills program he teaches to the residents there and the cooking he now performs for Dismas Charities. Hall (right), who oversees the cooking of some 44,000 meals a month for Dismas’ Portland, Louisville, Diersen, St. Ann and St. Patrick facilities, was interviewed by Phyllis Fitzgerald (left), co-host of The Local Life program. For the past 21 years Fitzgerald herself has worked as a Dismas Charities volunteer teaching low-income women about healthy foods, parenting, job readiness, self-confidence, compassion, homemaking and other topics. Hall, who teaches an intensive culinary program to Portland residents, personally vouches for those who take the teaching seriously and excel. Many of his graduates have gone on to obtain jobs in the field. “Some of the men have never held a paying job on the outside and others have not been part of the work force for many years so it’s all about showing them transferable job skills and identifying the skills they already have,” Hall said. In addition to basic and, in some cases, advanced culinary skills, Hall stresses arriving to work on time, giving 100 percent of what you have to give and being productive, learning to take and give direction while working as a team, being accountable for your actions, determining how to successfully manage your time, seeing the job through, and achieving individual and group-oriented goals. “The class allows our residents to go back into society, find jobs and successfully work and function in far more areas than just the culinary field. I believe in what we do here and feel we are changing the world, one cheeseburger at a time.”
