Lots of programs—including DC Central Kitchen’s Culinary Job Training program—do something called outreach: connecting with potential students and partners by getting out in the community, building relationships, and attending accessible events. But we also do ‘in-reach’ – finding ways inside of correctional facilities and prisons in order to identify, encourage, and advocate for potential students before they’re released, so we can part of a successful process of coming home and choosing a new, positive way forward. For new DC Central Kitchen employee and recent Culinary Job Training graduate Kenzie, in-reach was a life-changing opportunity.
Kenzie learned about the Culinary Job Training program while serving a total of 33 years and eight months behind bars. Though for much of that time, he didn’t think he’d ever get out, he always hoped for a future of freedom, and eventually, he found where he wanted to start anew.
“When I was in prison, I got a pamphlet from DC Central Kitchen,” Kenzie told us. “They [DCCK] actually came to court for my hearing. They gave me a second chance. DC Central Kitchen supported me. They had a letter for the judge. So when I got out, I came down here, did the three-day trial, and the rest is history.”
That history includes a dark period but now, a bright future. “You know, I got the prison story. I did, but I changed my life, and I paid my dues. I did 33 years. I’m showing people that this is the track that people can get on when they get out of prison…if they if they really get their mind right, put all that energy into doing good [and] being on a righteous path.”
Kenzie has been on that righteous path since his release. He finished our Culinary Job Training program in the autumn of 2025. Upon graduation, he first landed a seasonal position at a warehouse before returning to DC Central Kitchen when a position opened.
Kenzie is now a member of our tireless and essential Facilities team, working full-time to ensure a safe and seamless operation for our seven-day-a-week meal production efforts. But that’s not his only job in the Buzzard Point neighborhood of Southwest DC. He also works at DCCK neighbor and partner Audi Field, utilizing lessons he learned in our training kitchen in the stadium kitchens able to handle thousands and thousands of fans every game. “Now I work at Audi Field as a prep cook. I’m doing all the things I did in the CJT classroom and [at my internship] at Holiday Inn. It was a good training course for me. This was the steppingstone I needed.”
In addition to working at the Kitchen and working in a kitchen, Kenzie also speaks to the current classes in our Culinary Job Training program. Self-empowerment teacher Jeffrey Rustin says “Kenzie has a lot to tell them now, because one thing he did was learning how to trust the process. He learned how to be very committed to the program. He was very consistent with the program. And now he’s doing a 180.”
Speaking both about what Rustin meant to him and what he can do for current students, Kenzie says: “When you see somebody that you can relate to, somebody that looks like you, somebody’s been through what you’ve been through, it gives you the motivation to want to go in that direction,” says Kenzie. “It’s very important to have somebody that graduated that’s doing good to be able to say, “Hey, this is what I am. This is what I became from this.”
“Kenzie is doing great,” his supervisor, DCCK Facilities Manager Robert Stevens told us. “He demonstrates a strong passion for learning and is always eager to assist. As he becomes more comfortable with the tasks at hand, his confidence will continue to grow.”
“I’m so happy,” says Kenzie. “I’m happy to be free. I’m happy to be working. This is a great experience, great environment. This transformed my life.”