Easterseals PORT Health, a provider of disability and mental health services, is launching its “Culinary Connections” service line with a new teaching kitchen in Virginia Beach.
Construction has just been completed on the facility at the Autism Resource Center, 3509 Virginia Beach Blvd.
The kitchen hosts cooking classes for a variety of students to learn cooking skills, increase nutritional literacy, and spend time socializing and building connections with their peers.
The kitchen as a playground is the theme of the Cooking with Friends class for children ages 5 to 9, who explore the smells, tastes, and tools of the kitchen to create culinary masterpieces.
The Chartway Promise Foundation is funding three rounds, with the first round starting in June.
For adults who want to develop additional kitchen skills, Easterseals offers the “Recipes for Independence” class. Throughout eight sessions, students practice basic cooking skills such as cracking eggs, browning meat, and grating cheese, as well as kitchen hygiene, safety, and nutrition.
Unlike traditional cooking classes, students are provided with a variety of supports and tools to personalize their learning. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation-Jennifer Ringley Foundation sponsored his first two rounds of Recipes for Independence.
The third service, Culinary Therapy, combines traditional talk therapy with a cooking class. Participants are invited to a familiar environment where they work with food while learning coping strategies to deal with some of life's challenges. The program provides culinary therapy to youth living in nursing homes and military personnel living in Hampton Roads.
For more information or to join, visit eastersealsucp.com/culinary-connections.
