Tenacity and Perseverance
Two words to describe Shametris Cotton-tenacity and perseverance. Shametris Cotton is a 27year old single mother who works in environmental services at Spectrum Health while pursuingmedical assistant training at Ross Medical so that she will better be able to provide for her twoyoung children. Shametris largely thanks Steepletown’s WIOA programs for helping her to get […]
Lifelong Learners
Roopa made her debut at Kitchen Sage in April of 2021, just as Kitchen Sage was moving to its new location over at 4000 Remembrance Road NW. At that time Roopa and Chef Karen were both volunteering over at the Green Apple Pantry where Roopa’s interest in volunteering over at Kitchen Sage grew more […]
A Final Tribute
For over 60 years the building at 671 Davis Avenue NW housed some amazing work. Over the past month this building has been torn down. It was originally built in the mid-50’s to provide a home for the Sisters of Notre Dame who taught across the street. Then in the early 90’s, after the […]
More Than a Career, Our Future
Current reality- There are many child development centers that have empty classrooms due to the lack of early childhood teachers. And as the State is trying to get everyone back to work, the ability to fill these empty seats with children is critically important to today’s workforce. So what do we do as a community […]
Another Successful Preschool Year!
The 2019-2020 school year at the Steepletown Preschool started out like any other. In the fall we danced and sang the night away at our preschool Fall Dance, the four year old classroom parents competed against the two and three year old classroom parents in our annual parent/staff basketball game (and won!), and we celebrated March […]
The Meaning of Christmas
Sue Krestakos was one of Steepletown’s first mentors when Steepletown began pairing members of one of the three original Steepletown Parishes with neighborhood households facing financial struggles. After Sue worked with a couple young mothers, she was then introduced to Lisa Glatz. At that time Lisa was a single mother who was unemployed, homeless, and […]
Positive Cycles
In 2018, Maximiliano completed his GED with Steepletown and enrolled in a paid work experience/internship. After connecting with his Career Coach and evaluating career interests, Maximiliano was introduced to Adnoris ‘Bo’ Torres, Fatherhood Coordinator for the Strong Beginnings/Family Futures initiative. Max interned in the capacity of a Community Health Worker. Bo provided him with frequent […]
A JobStart Participant’s Journey
Malachi is not unlike many of the other young men who participate in JobStart. Malachi and his brother both started together at JobStart in 2018. While his brother quickly earned the ServSafe Managerial Certificate at Kitchen Sage and was employed at Spectrum Health, Malachi ran into some housing and health challenges that sidelined him for […]
GED Student Makes Life Happen
Melody showed up at Steepletown in 2018 to complete the GED. At the time, Melody was a coffee barista and and enjoyed going to the movies and the beach with her friends. Although the GED Ready practice tests showed she was Very Likely to pass all four of them, she needed to get a […]
Kitchen Sage Goes Virtual
How many pounds of pasta does an average Italian eat compared to the average American? Chef Karen mixes up her culinary training class with fun facts about eating and cooking, and keeps students interested with lots of hands on learning. And as her students have learned, its okay to have your homework eaten, but preferably […]