Jeanie Friar suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic sexual assault that left her house-bound for nearly 14 years. In addition to the overwhelming fear of leaving the house, she lives with chronic pain from multiple car accidents that has made work difficult for her.
Recently, she made the decision to re-enter the workforce and sought guidance from the Department of Vocation Rehabilitation. “I was tired of my kids having to take care of me and I wanted to become self-sufficient again.”
On Friday, Friar was among four proud graduates of AspenPointe Café’s 17-week Food Services Training Program.
Veteran Colorado Springs culinarian Chef Peter Aiello is AspenPointe Café’s new head chef and operations manager, a recruitment designed to boost its training program, which puts the disenfranchised back to work.
“It’s taken a joint effort to make this program successful,” Aiello said. “It was awesome to see the students grow. When they got here, they were apprehensive and didn’t know what to expect. Now they feel comfortable and a part of our team.”
According to the Department of Labor employment of food service workers is expected to increase by 10 percent in the next seven years. Food and beverage serving and related workers are projected to have one of the largest numbers of new jobs arise, about 761,000.
Andrew Winders, a rehabilitation counselor with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, referred Friar to the program and provided funding. The Café training program was a perfect fit for Friar who previously worked in the restaurant industry and wants to get back into the field after 11 years of not working.
“Our goal is to meet the individual need. Our organization is not an entitlement service, we help people develop the skills they need to get and keep a job,” Winders said. “The bottom line is Jeanie is going to get the skills to go get a job and become a contributing member of the community. It’s a definite confidence booster. Jeanie feels more able to accomplish her goals.”
AspenPointe CEO & President Morris L. Roth congratulated the students for their accomplishments: “We’re delighted about this program. It’s exciting to see people excel and use this training as a launch pad to go out into the workforce and succeed.”
Aiello handed Friar her certificate along with a brand new knife set Friday afternoon. “There’s always one person who steps up in the kitchen and helps the other students,” Aiello said. “That was Jeanie and we don’t want to see her go.”
Friar recently told Winders about her success in the program. “I don’t want to leave,” she said to him. From the sounds of it, she may not have to.
AspenPointe café, located at 5069 N. Academy Blvd., is also open for dine-in and take-out lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information, or to see a menu, go to www.aspenpointe.org/cafe