U Inspire Hospitality Training
Co-Produced by Peacebuilding Connections U Inspire Training, a subsidiary of Inspire BBQ, was an innovative community based training for US Veterans and young adults on Social Security Disability Insurance. The training focused on the personal and career development of its participants and readied them to enter the food service and hospitality industries.
Peacebuilding Connections worked to connect participants with broad and diverse organizations across DC, making sure residents were part of a community where they could find resources, be celebrated, and engage with other DC residents.
Through personalized courses each participant spends time developing interpersonal skills, life skills, and financial literacy which helps them complete the START curriculum and receive their SafeServ and TipServ certifications. In addition, participants organize and participate in community connection events which bring together a diverse community of individuals and organizations working in neighborhoods throughout Washington, D.C. Participants met with US members of Congress, spoke on Capital Hill, organized their own events, and engaged with a broad and diverse range of individuals and organizations throughout the city.
U Inspire In The News…
CBS News:
"I don't know about you, but barbecue is something that makes you smile," Tate told CBS News. "You can't eat a rib or a piece of barbecue chicken without opening up your mouth and smiling. It brings people together. So I brought kids to an industry of service. You gotta give back."
“Catering a Saturday breakfast at a downtown church in the District, Chef Furard Tate hoped a diner would find inspiration while trying the grits, scooped onto plates by a formerly homeless veteran who never imagined he’d keep a job. Or maybe it would come from observing the sweat of the woman running in and out of the kitchen, eager to work hard in the first job that looked beyond her violent past.
“Thank you, honey, for doing a great job,” Tate told her. “You know I appreciate you.”
NPR’s The Salt:
“Inspire BBQ aims to reclaim troubled young people, teach them a trade, and give them a chance at success.
"When an adult realizes that a young person took that process and is actually learning how to make everything, it actually means even more, because it reminds us that: My education started at home," he says.”
Peacebuilding Connections helped organize classroom trainings, work-study experiences, community events, and public speaking opportunities...
