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How restaurants, former inmates can help one another

Inspired by "getting his own a break" when he was younger, Brandon Chrostowski founded the Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute in 2007, a six-month program conducted from Cleveland prisons that provides inmates with culinary arts and hospitality training.

The Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute has trained and graduted more than 300 former inmates from its chef and hospitality educational program.

July 16, 2019 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Imagine making a stupid mistake during your youth which sends you to prison. You serve your time and are ready to start over, but you can't find a job because you have a record. No one can see past your "former inmate" status, and while in prison you received little or no training and may not have finished high school before you landed in jail — more than 40 percent of inmates lack a diploma. With no prospects, you turn back to illegal activity in order to make ends meet. 

That could have been how Richard Zerechech Jr.'s story ended had it not been for the second chance he received from the Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute, a six-month program conducted from Cleveland prisons that provide inmates with culinary arts and hospitality training.

Zerechech, who is now 50 and was incarcerated from 1987 to 2000, and again from 2002 to 2008, enrolled in Edwins, founded in 2007, by Chef Brandon Chrostowski. The school not only trained Zerechech to work in its fine dining restaurant, but also provided him with free housing at its campus along with basic medical care, clothing and job coaching.

"It's given me stability and a goal to strive for, a place to stay and an opportunity to grow," Zerechech said in an interview with Fast Casual. 

In an effort to help thousands of inmates like Zerechech rewrite their stories, the U.S. Department of Labor this week announced that it was giving a $4.5 million grant to The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The organizations will work together to train young adults reentering society while they're still serving time, as well as after release and during parole, according to a press release. Available in Boston, Chicago and the Richmond and Hampton Roads, Virginia area, the program will help the restaurant industry staff its 1 million unfilled jobs while providing work to a variety of people who are often deemed unemployable.

"We are honored to be part of a national effort to create positive employment opportunities for young adults involved with the justice system," said Rob Gifford, president of NRAEF. "The program fits perfectly with our mission to attract, empower and advance today's and tomorrow's restaurant workforce and is an excellent way for anyone seeking to get back on track to becoming a productive and responsible member of society."

Although Edwins doesn't accept state or federal funds and can't partner with the NRA, Chrostowski said the government-funded program is a great step in helping people rebuild their lives.

"The mission (is) to re-humanize formerly incarcerated men and women through education because the injustice of our society is too blatant to ignore," he said during an interview with FastCasual. "These are people who need education, skills, housing, support, love, self-confidence and employment."

Chrostowski's goal is to chip away at the unemployment rate of formerly incarcerated people, which is nearly five times higher than the unemployment rate for the general population, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

"I'm still passionate about this mission because I've seen it work. I've seen families made whole again," said Chrostowski, who has graduated more than 300 former inmates. "I've had mothers come to me and tell me that our program saved their sons' lives. I've had employers thanking me for introducing them to our well-trained, hard-working graduates. I'm passionate because it's needed and it works. 

Like Edwins, The NRA's program will help graduates find a job and also offers hospitality training to those who want to further their careers. 

"Some formerly incarcerated individuals weren't given the proper direction before they ran afoul of the law," Chrostowski said. "Some just made a snap decision that cost them their freedom."

The measure of whether or not it will work, of course, will depend on the rate of recidivism for the affected group, but will also require restaurateurs to keep open minds. Chrostowski hopes they will get to know people instead of assuming the worst.

"They are more than the offense that appears on their record," he said. "Our returning citizens are human beings who have the added motivation of redemption to push them forward. 

"They are desperate to show that they are more than the mistake they made. You must judge these individuals like you would any other, hire them, give them a chance and judge strictly on the merits, not the past."

Zerechech agreed, saying giving people a second chance is a wonderful gift.

"Everyone deserves a second chance; sometimes we need an opportunity to prove ourselves," he said.

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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