After an extensive six-month transitional jobs training program that includes computer training classes, production floor experience and financial literacy training, women move on to full-time employment in a variety of career sectors including manufacturing, food service, landscaping and home healthcare. On average, working graduates of TEK earn $9.50 per hour, over 30% more than the national average wage of former welfare recipients For more information, please contact Carolyn Nopar, Executive Director at (773) 506-3880 or cnopar@theenterprisingkitchen.org.

Experiential Training: The experiential training situations for women participants utilize the various steps involved in creating and marketing our soaps and spa products at our facility. Our products are all natural and exceptional in quality, further demonstrating to participants that their efforts are valuable and marketable. Women start in the program as production assistants. Participants rotate through the different business areas in two week intervals, giving each woman a chance to experience the particular areas of the business: manufacturing, assembly/packaging, shipping/receiving, customer service, direct sales and marketing.

Individual Consultations: A strong emphasis on a one-on-one approach includes individual consultations to help each woman develop existing skills to support her experiential training and learn new skills to improve her marketability in the workforce. These skills of phone etiquette, math and language skills, consumer and personal skills, employment protocols, and job search skills are crucial to securing a job with sustainable wages. Participants without a high school diploma are strongly encouraged to obtain a GED, and are provided with individual tutoring sessions if needed.

Seminars and Workshops: One of our primary goals for women is to prepare them with the skills needed for a healthy and financially stable life. To this end we hold financial literacy, health, and workplace technology workshops seminars, primarily on a quarterly basis. Our health, nutrition and stress management workshops provide program participants with the skills aimed at facilitating a healthier, more stable family life.