Street kids' road to work leads through pasta palace -- GREAT STORY!

[HuckleB]

This is a wonderful story that should be spread far and wide, IMHO. We enjoyed a wonderful meal here to celebrate my wife's birthday two weeks ago, and I can tell you that we'll be going back for more and more.

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Street kids' road to working world leads through pasta palace

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/110104175897390.xml

"Polly Bangs drifted through restaurant jobs and then worked as a counselor for homeless kids before combining the two interests. Her restaurant, Pasta Bangs, hires homeless teens for three-month "boot camp" stints in the food service business. Bangs says, "I think that one of the biggest obstacles among homeless and disadvantaged youths is unemployment. It's hard for them to get a job since they don't have an address or a phone number. I'm also concerned with social services getting cut, and I think it's important for small businesses to pick up the slack."

...

Every three months, Bangs brings four new teenagers to work in the restaurant alongside 10 staff members who have received special training in how to work with homeless youth. It is the equivalent of a culinary boot camp, an intensive training in restaurant basics for teens who in some cases have never held a job before, who are addicts perhaps battling years of neglect or who have learning disabilities or mental health issues. "Kids who are facing more than other teenagers do," she says.

And it means that each night, Bangs must move seamlessly between all the usual demands of running a restaurant and the role of informal social worker -- between mixing cocktails and boosting the self-esteem of a busboy.

But Bangs, the daughter of a teacher and a physician who split up when Bangs was two, seems perfectly suited to the task. She has, as she puts it, spent most of her life "inhabiting two worlds."

Street kids' road to working world leads through pasta palace

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/110104175897390.xml



Happy Thanksgiving Weekend...

[skygazer]

1. Nice story

Many people don't realize that finding a job is only part of the problem for so many people. People that may be healthy and able to work in a physical sense might still have no hope of landing a job because they have no skills as far as interviewing, for one thing, and they know nothing about actually working for a living - the importance of being on time or the social skills you need to interact with fellow workers or bosses. And there is no real training for that offered in most cases.

Very good book - "The Working Poor". Sorry, can't remember the author's name but he points out so many of these things that most of us don't really think about.

Sounds like this lady is preparing these kids so they can move forward. Good for her.

[ooglymoogly]

2. you see that? that is what being a democrat means

these are the real americans not to be confused with murkins who are pulling the rugs out from under the disadvantageds' feet to line there own bulging pockets. we need to find a way to support these people who are doing these wonderful things.

[HuckleB]

6. Exactly!

:hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. After 4 years of volunteering with Portland street kids, I can

say that this is definitely the type of program that they need.

A lot of them have no self-confidence and don't really believe that it's possible to get off the streets. A successful work experience can do wonders. I saw one young man transformed after he got a job at a nursery and discovered that he loved working with plants. After about a year, he came in beaming to report that he'd been promoted to supervisor. It was a great day for everyone, because in so many cases, the news is that so-and so was sentenced to prison or was found dead in a doorway.

[darkstar]

4. What a great story. Thanks for linking it.

Maybe we need to put forward a "good news" only group? Just kidding, really, but some days it sure would be nice to read nothing but stories like these.

[fluffernutter]

5. great story. Polly Bangs is awesome.

[warrens]

7. What a great story

I emailed her, and have an idea for my own company.

[HuckleB]

8. Awesome!

Best of luck to you. I hope your idea works out wonderfully.

Salud!