Ben, JJ, Maya, and Katherine from the kitchen team are thrilled to look back on a year full of meaningful partnerships and exciting new initiatives. This year, we had the pleasure of welcoming four new cohorts from the Miriam Foundation and launching an empowering collaboration with the L’Institut national pour l’Équité, l’Égalité et l’Inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap (INÉÉI-PSH). INÉÉI-PSH provides people with disabilities with invaluable opportunities to learn new skills, engage in research studies, raise awareness, and strengthen their sense of community.
The partnership with INÉÉI-PSH has been a source of great joy for our team. We’ve been fortunate to host educational workshops in our kitchen space, which is a new environment for many participants.
Throughout the year, four distinct groups from INÉÉI-PSH took part in cooking workshops that covered a variety of themes: affordable and accessible recipes, transforming leftovers into hearty family casseroles, and practical food budgeting. Each group rolled up their sleeves, diving into ingredient preparation and cooking different elements of the meal under the guidance of our skilled kitchen team. Everyone left with an extra portion of the meal to take home and share with family and friends, but, even more importantly, they left feeling nourished, valued, and connected.
As participant Chaima Aousji shared with us: “It was a very moving and enriching experience for me. I loved being immersed in the kitchen environment, and thanks to you, I was able to experience beautiful moments that will remain engraved in my memory.”
The growth of such partnerships aligns perfectly with our new strategic plan, which emphasizes the importance of increasing inclusion, accessibility, and education within the Roulant’s spaces. This success would not have been possible without the teamwork and collaboration of our kitchen crew, whose camaraderie and facilitation have provided the stability needed to navigate the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of a professional community kitchen.
We look forward to continuing to build on these relationships and expand our impact in the year ahead by creating new partnerships with fellow organizations looking to offer inclusive and educational workshops to their members.
Katherine, JJ, Ben and Maya