PATHS Program

My name is Abigail, and I am a certified peer counselor in Washington State; specifically, I am a Program Training Specialist for FUSION'S new organization workforce program, PATHS (Professional Apprenticeships Towards Housing Stablility). Our FUSION Pete Anderson Family Center shelter gives transitional housing to 34 families, all with children, upwards of 400 served per year. This program is being developed in such a way that it models Catalyst Kitchens, an organization I have previously worked with, and takes the burden off of some of our underserved community members by setting them up with jobs via 16-week training infrastructure through our restaurant, Poverty Bay Cafe. We are in the very beginning of developing this program, to a point in which it has been approved by the city council only in hypotheticals. It is my job to bring this to fruition for our next meeting with the board to begin to access funding. Our non-profit is a graciously-funded organization through the city of Federal Way, and some of our paper goods and office costs can be covered by the budgets and grants we have already been alloted; however, things such as kitchen-specific needs, such as outfitting our students with uniforms and non-skid shoes and other miscellaneous materials, are completely outside of any budget that exists and, therefore, I am having a difficult time writing a business proposal with these pockets of funding that I am not prepared to address. I have been a professional chef for my entire working life, starting at 18 and now still working in the culinary industry at 34 - although, in a more niche and grassroots way. I have been on the Food Network twice, donating my winnings both times to mental health organizations. It means a lot to me that these underserved populations have their needs met. I was one of them.