Contributed by Abby Lampley, MY House Board Member
The community here in the Mat-Su Valley knows that MY House is fully committed to helping homeless youth get back on their feet and become successful adults. The staff at MY House offers case management services, job training opportunities, transitional housing and a hot meal on Monday-Friday for any youth who walks through the door. Many of these youth consider MY House as a safe place that they can come back to for help, no matter what happens. I think that says a lot.
Recently, there was a discussion among the staff on what kind of things we could be doing to continue to help the youth become successful and independent. The idea of having very basic cooking classes for the youth to participate in was brought to the table. Eating fast food and buying pre-made meals regularly can get really expensive, and it drains a person's bank account or food stamp balance rather quickly. Making food properly is healthier and costs less. Unfortunately, many of the clients at MY House don't know how to cook meals for themselves because they never learned.
Jenn Martin, MSW, MY House's lead case manager, and Roger Hamacher, Director of Youth Services at Nine Star Education and Employment, jumped on the cooking class idea. They decided to have cooking classes at MY House every Friday at 12PM. These classes are meant to teach the youth how to cook basic recipes that take only a few ingredients and one or two pots/pans. Each of the classes are recorded so that anyone can have access to the recipes.
If you know anyone who can benefit from these classes, send them to MY House on Friday at noon. You can search and/or subscribe to our Hot Plate Madness Youtube channel to view all of the video recordings at www..youtube.com/channel/UCOZBJ4XBtpRKsvTq43sPahw.
MY House... offering youth a hand up, not a hand out.
