Thomas, a 47-year-old single man, was born in Panama and has lived in the US since he was 14. He served as a U.S. Marine for four years and later worked for UPS. An injury on the job put him on Worker’s Compensation. When he couldn’t find another job, he had to turn to public assistance. Thomas’s life goal now is to become a chef and later open his own restaurant. He researched a number of culinary schools but couldn’t afford any of them. So he joined the WSCAH Customer Chef Training Program last spring. After graduating in June, the nutrition skills from the class greatly helped him care for his homebound mother recently diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. In August, using his Customer Chef Training Program skills, Thomas took the basic kitchen procedures and skills test for entry into Project Welcome, the highly selective Kingsborough College Culinary Program. From a pool of 500 candidates, he was on of 40 students selected for the program. Thomas is grateful to WSCAH for giving him the opportunity to acquire the hands-on experience that has gotten him closer to achieving his goals.