Abraham Pineda, 16, prepares vegetables for the Midtown Shelter on Tuesday at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry. The nonprofit is in process of building a kitchen in the facility it owns on Cerrillos Road, but currently leases space at a kitchen on Camino Carlos Rey.
Diego Talamantes, 16, helps prep vegetables as the YouthWorks team fills a catering order Tuesday for the Midtown Shelter at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry. The nonprofit is in the process of building a kitchen in the facility it owns on Cerrillos Road but currently leases space at a kitchen on Camino Carlos Rey.
Head chef and instructor Devon Bernardino, left, helps Brian Arevalo, right, and Sebastian Talamantes prepare saffron risotto, part of a catering order for the Midtown Shelter, on Tuesday at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry.
Brian Arevalo, right, and Sebastian Talamantes prepare saffron risotto part of a catering order for the Midtown Shelter on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry. The nonprofit is in process of building a kitchen in the facility it owns on Cerrillos Road, but currently leases space at a kitchen on Camino Carlos Rey.
Diego Talamantes, 16, helps prep vegetables as the YouthWorks team fills a catering order Tuesday for the Midtown Shelter at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry. The nonprofit is in the process of building a kitchen in the facility it owns on Cerrillos Road but currently leases space at a kitchen on Camino Carlos Rey.
At Thursday’s State of the City address at the Santa Fe Teen Center, a who’s-who of Santa Fe lined up for a meal of chipotle grilled chicken skewers, smoked beets, Mexican street corn salad, biscochitos and more.
While the food tasted restaurant quality, the spread hadn’t been catered by one of Santa Fe’s high-end eateries — it was cooked up earlier that day by the participants in YouthWorks’ Social Justice Kitchen program, which offers teenagers and young adults the opportunity to earn a paycheck while learning culinary skills.
The program is undergoing an expansion, and YouthWorks is in the process of remodeling the building it owns on Cerrillos Road into a new industrial kitchen that will have about three times the space of the kitchen the nonprofit currently leases on Camino Carlos Rey.
“This is an amazing investment for Santa Fe’s youth and young adults,” said YouthWorks founder and director Melynn Schuyler.
The expansion will get a boost from Community Development Block Grant money the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is expected to give to the city in its upcoming funding cycle.
The expansion will cost about $1.5 million, Schuyler said; the city is expected to contribute $131,538 in CDBG money.
The organization is preparing to launch a fundraising campaign for the project “and CDBG has helped us get a little bit further to that goal,” she said.
The 4,400 square-foot facility will include a front-facing cafe open to the public. Schuyler said owning its own kitchen will put YouthWorks in a better financial position and allow it to invest more in its programming for young people.
Abraham Pineda, 16, prepares vegetables for the Midtown Shelter on Tuesday at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry. The nonprofit is in process of building a kitchen in the facility it owns on Cerrillos Road, but currently leases space at a kitchen on Camino Carlos Rey.
The program gives at-risk young people a way to make money and learn career skills that will be valuable whether they choose to pursue a career in the restaurant industry or another field. In addition, Schuyler said the expansion will help create jobs throughout the region.
“By owning our own property smack-dab in the center of Santa Fe and rotating our people through industry-recognized training, we’re going to be able to assist local employers in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico,” she said.
YouthWorks is one of six community organizations that will receive CDBG money in the upcoming fiscal year, the city’s Office of Affordable Housing has announced. The City Council approved the funding allocations May 8. The other awards are:
$200,000 to Habitat for Humanity’s home repairs for very low-income homeowners program.
$75,000 to Chainbreaker Collective for rehabilitation of its new headquarters on Fifth Street.
$35,000 to Santa Fe Public Schools Adelante School Liaison program, which provides support services to students and their families experiencing homelessness.
$35,000 to the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place for its summer Safe Haven for All shelter.
$20,000 to Youth Shelters and Family Services for its street outreach program for homeless youth.
$7,880 to Youth Shelters and Family Services for repairs and upgrades to its transitional living program campus.
The exact amount of CDBG money HUD will award to the city was yet to be finalized at the time the plan was approved. If the city receives more or less money than expected, the YouthWorks grant will be adjusted proportionately.
The YouthWorks grant was the one chosen to fluctuate because it had the most phase-able” budget, Affordable Housing Department Director Alexandra Ladd wrote in an email.
“In other words, phases of the work could be completed with partial funding more so than some of the other projects,” she wrote. “So it was a logical bucket to make more flexible.”
Other organizations slated to receive CDBG funding said the allocations will have a big impact on the work they do. It was the first time Chainbreaker Collective had applied for the funding, said spokesperson Cathy Garcia.
Garcia said the money will go toward renovating its new building to make it safer and more welcoming for the clients it serves at its bike repair facility and “know your rights” clinics. The previous tenant of the building was a glass installation company, and the space is currently “a little too much like being in an industrial facility,” Garcia said.
Head chef and instructor Devon Bernardino, left, helps Brian Arevalo, right, and Sebastian Talamantes prepare saffron risotto, part of a catering order for the Midtown Shelter, on Tuesday at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry.
Renovations will include soundproofing, changing some of the lights, installing a new heater and making the building more environmentally friendly, she said. The organization moved into the new building late last year but hopes to have an official grand opening next month.
“We want to make sure that for all the folks who come in, everything is safe and welcoming,” Garcia said.
In the post-pandemic era, Adelante has served about 1,100 children and young people annually, which amounts to about 7.5% of the school district’s student body, said Michelle Vignery, a development specialist at Adelante.
The program has a broader definition of homelessness than HUD and works with students and their families who are living in shelters or cars, are housed in precarious or unsafe living spaces or are doubled up with another family, among other situations.
“When we think about people who are homeless, we just have that word in our head and it paints an immediate picture,” she said. “But homelessness goes far beyond that, and when children and families are experiencing homelessness, it might look different.”
Vignery said the CDBG allocation is about 4.5% of Adelante’s overall budget, but it receives other money from the city as well, including from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
She noted the program’s work at making sure students have the basic resources they need so they can focus on school is crucial because young people without high school diplomas are much more likely to end up homeless themselves.
“It becomes cyclical,” she said.
The YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen is also geared toward students who are in danger of not finishing high school. The kitchen currently works with at least 650 young people a year, said YouthWorks’ chief of operations John Paul Granillo.
“It shows a vast need for what we’re doing,” he said.
Brian Arevalo, right, and Sebastian Talamantes prepare saffron risotto part of a catering order for the Midtown Shelter on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at the YouthWorks Social Justice Kitchen, which gives young people experience in the restaurant industry. The nonprofit is in process of building a kitchen in the facility it owns on Cerrillos Road, but currently leases space at a kitchen on Camino Carlos Rey.
On a recent morning at the program’s industrial kitchen, head chef Devon Bernardino was leading a group of students through the process of making spaghetti with meatballs for upcoming meals that would be delivered to Consuelo’s Place.
Since the start of the pandemic the Social Justice Kitchen has delivered 75 meals to the homeless shelter seven days a week. It also helped deliver meals to first responders and displaced people during the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in partnership with the World Central Kitchen, and caters a number of private events throughout the city.
Bernardino graduated from the Social Justice Kitchen program in 2016, and returned several months ago to lead the program after working in a range of culinary jobs.
“I get to see the kind of kids I used to be,” he said of being at the helm.
Students said they enjoyed participating in the program and believe a new kitchen will be a boon.
“It’d be really good for the program,” said Fabian Navarrete, 17. Navarette joined the program about five months ago and said he’s enjoying it so far.
“It’s a great work environment,” he said. “Everyone’s friends, so it’s pretty fun.”
Bernardino’s goals for the new space include helping YouthWorks increase its footprint in the culinary world and build a bigger pipeline for Santa Feans to enter the restaurant industry.
He noted when you look around the city’s sizable culinary scene, “there’s not a lot of ownership from people who are from here.”
That’s something he’d like to see change.
“It’s going to be amazing,” he said. “I’m ready to take us to the next level.”
