{"id":44292,"date":"2025-11-11T03:48:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T03:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/44292\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T03:48:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T03:48:21","slug":"this-cafe-empowers-refugees-trafficking-survivors-through-on-the-job-culinary-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/44292\/","title":{"rendered":"This cafe empowers refugees, trafficking survivors through on-the-job culinary training"},"content":{"rendered":"

(InvestigateTV<\/a>) \u2014 A message inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty, welcoming \u201chuddled masses yearning to breathe free,\u201d serves as a guiding light for a unique restaurant in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Emma\u2019s Torch Cafe provides refugees with an opportunity to celebrate their heritage and cuisine by training for a career in the food industry.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just a kitchen in a D.C. cafe. It\u2019s on-the-job training where students aren\u2019t just learning prep, they\u2019re learning possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Emma\u2019s Torch, you can find love, joy and hope,\u201d said Nico, an Emma\u2019s Torch trainee.<\/p>\n

Emma\u2019s Torch is a cafe and culinary school in Washington D.C. Their goal is to empower refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking. Nico came to the U.S. to rebuild his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left my country because I lose everything. Because I was I- AND my wife too. It\u2019s very sad. And I\u2019m here. I\u2019m in the United States with my two children,\u201d Nico said.<\/p>\n

He says Emma\u2019s Torch welcomed him and gave him new purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learn new skills to know how to cook the best dishes in the world. And I feel that, I\u2019m at the right place,\u201d Nico said.<\/p>\n

A comprehensive program<\/p>\n

\u201cOur program is about 11 weeks long and it\u2019s 40 hours a week,\u201d said Kerry Brodie, Emma\u2019s Torch founder and executive director.<\/p>\n

Brodie founded the social justice non-profit eight years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s where our students are learning things like self-advocacy, English classes, resume prep, interview prep, all of those things that are outside the kitchen. And then we bring them inside the kitchen and they\u2019re learning knife skills and they\u2019re learning the fundamentals of learning culinary class,\u201d Brodie said.<\/p>\n

Five hundred students have graduated. Ninety percent have jobs.<\/p>\n

Emma Lazarus wrote the words inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty: \u201cGive me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEmma Lazarus was one of those unsung heroes of Jewish history. She was reading the headlines in the newspaper saying, you know, \u2018these people are going to change our country, these people are bringing whatever they\u2019re bringing,\u2019 and she said, no, that\u2019s not what we\u2019re about,\u201d Brodie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I mean, what a what a more powerful sentiment than that? That what is at our core is this idea of welcoming the stranger? The organization is supposed to be a testament to that,\u201d Brodie said.<\/p>\n

Just like the dishes they make, the students contribute their own ingredients to society. Their culture, their art, their recipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, yes, because exactly? When you are at Emma\u2019s Torch, you have the second chance. Because you can begin a new life. You can believe in yourself,\u201d Nico said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that resolve that can be a recipe for success.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(InvestigateTV) \u2014 A message inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty, welcoming \u201chuddled masses yearning to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[17853,17851,17852,17848,17849,17847,100,17850,168,170,169,17854],"class_list":{"0":"post-44292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-impact","9":"tag-inform","10":"tag-inspire","11":"tag-investigate-tv","12":"tag-investigate-tv-plus","13":"tag-investigatetv","14":"tag-investigation","15":"tag-investigators","16":"tag-lubbock","17":"tag-lubbock-headlines","18":"tag-lubbock-news","19":"tag-solutions-based-journalism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}